With one round to go, GM Sasikiran of India is leading the Najdorf Memorial by a full point. Here is the results in round 8:
Berg, Emanuel – Balogh, Csaba 1-0
Sasikiran, Krishnan – Macieja, Bartlomiej ½-½
Socko, Bartosz – Kempinski, Robert ½-½
Olszewski, Michal – Krasenkow, Michal ½-½
Rozentalis, Eduardas – Nyback, Tomi ½-½
Standings with one round to go:
1. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2684 6
2. Socko, Bartosz g POL 2627 5
3. Berg, Emanuel g SWE 2592 5
4. Nyback, Tomi g FIN 2639 4½
5. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2639 4½
6. Rozentalis, Eduardas g LTU 2599 3½
7. Balogh, Csaba g HUN 2624 3
8. Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2606 3
9. Kempinski, Robert g POL 2613 3
10. Olszewski, Michal m POL 2458 2½
Official website: http://www.poloniachess.pl/najdorf2008/index.php?lang=en
http://www.coloradomasterchess.com/lessons.htm
BEWARE OF “CHESS TEACHERS” FROM OUT OF TOWN:
It is a shame to have to bring this up, but as many of you know, the Colorado Front Range region of the state in the last several years has been plagued by a number of unscrupulous individuals and organizations that have committed various immoral and criminal acts (with prosecutions) passing though the area from other states looking to make a quick buck teaching and organizing chess. The quality of the chess teaching from such entities is usually quite poor.
Aside from the risk of potential criminal activity, individuals and organizations that pop-up from time to time and attempt to teach chess out of their local area tend to run low-quality programs for several reasons:
1) The individual running the organization usually has limited chess teaching experience him/herself (often has less than even 5 years of full-time, hands-on, experience); and
2) They attempt hire anyone they can find willing to teach a chess class (or classes) for them where they make a large percentage of the tuition. People willing to work for them in such an arrangement usually have even less chess teaching experience or possibly no experience at all (of course these recruited teachers are promised quality training !?).
The problem for those running this type of business model is that it is difficult to find a quality chess teacher foolish enough to go in for this type of arrangement since they already have the chess instructional skills and experience to teach on their own and have no reason to pay someone else or ride under their banner for the privilege to teach.
The goal of the person trying to hold chess events out of state is to make a lot of money by making overrides on others in multiple markets in an attempt to get rich quick. After developing a poor reputation in one city, they can just move on to the next one. Being able to teach a technical subject well requires more than just teaching a few classes here and there…it is a skill that is developed over time. If a program does manage to grow and is successful at recruiting others, the overall quality usually decreases due to the problems listed above. Check out these companies carefully so you don’t end up paying for a high-priced baby-sitter to watch your kids play chess!
The end result of these situations is the consumer ends up paying a higher price for far less quality then they would by hiring someone who lives locally with more teaching experience and historically a much better program and reputation. There is a network of Colorado-based instructors who have a proven track record of running solid programs. As with most things, it is better to go for quality, not quantity – you will be happy you hired a chess teacher who is confident enough in his/her own teaching skills that they work for themselves and not others.