Game teaches kids useful lessons for life
By Brandi Dean Caller-Times
January 29, 2006
Six-year-old Raquel Ferra barely could reach the other side of the chessboard, but what she lacked in height she made up for in helpfulness.
“You can move right here,” she told her opponent, who was having trouble finding a square where her queen wasn’t threatened by Raquel’s bishop, Saturday at the Susan Polgar National Open Championship. Unfortunately, giving your opponents tips is not exactly within the rules.
“Girls,” a monitor admonished, “I’m not supposed to hear you talking and telling each other what moves.”
That didn’t keep Raquel quiet for long, though. Soon, she was explaining the pieces.
“The queen can move everywhere,” she said. “Like this. The king can only move one – like this.”
Across the room, the atmosphere wasn’t quite so friendly. Jessica Sosa, 14, played without comment, and when her king was taken, she shook hands sans emotion. Afterward, though, she maintained that it was all good fun.
“It’s a unique game,” she said. “They play it all over the world, and it’s kind of awesome. You have to think and visualize. You have to plan ahead.”
That’s why Raquel’s mother, Anna Ferra, put aside her skepticism when her daughter came home from school wanting to play chess. She said she was surprised Raquel was interested, but it’s turned out well.
“She’s really picking it up,” Anna Ferra said. “It’s an awesome developmental skill she’s learning.”
Susan Polgar had that in mind when she decided to start the championship, which is for women and girls younger than 21. Polgar was the first woman to win the men’s Grandmaster title in chess, or U.S. Open Blitz Championship, and she says chess still is dominated by men. But she doesn’t want girls to miss out on what chess has to offer.
“Girls shouldn’t be left out,” she said. “Chess encourages critical thinking, pattern recognition, concentration, focus, problem solving – things that they will need in and outside of school. It’s something they will use for life, and it’s affordable for everyone.”
Chess championship
More than 220 girls from 15 different states are participating in the Susan Polgar National Open Championship. The winners will be announced at 4 p.m. today in the Ramada Inn Bayfront and Convention Center.
To watch some of the competitions in real time, visit www.monroi.com/wdc/realtime at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_4425230,00.html
http://www.monroi.com/wdc/watch.php?game_id=2921
can somoeone Please explain why the black queen is sacrificed near the end in this drawn game in round 3 between Garcia/ Farias?
Perplexing isn’t it? However, I surmise that the fact the the players are two unrated teenagers and friends from the same school of whom neither is in the running for a prize may have affected the outcome.