Akobian with Me

Me and GM.Akobian!

This me with well-known GM Akobian.  He gives a lesson on every Wednesday at the Kansas City Chess Club.  He has a very high rating on chess which is 2707!  If you're asking, this a picture of him in the flesh, so he is not a cardboard cut-out.  This was taken in October.

Chess

Chess is a very popular game.  Chess was made in India and based off the ancient Indian army.  In the game, two players battle to take the other king.  When you capture the king, you win the game.  It is called checkmate.

The pieces in the ancient days are a lot different than they are in the modern days.  The ancient chess king is similar to the king piece today.  The visior now is the queen.  The cavalry is the knight (Horsey).  The Elephant became the bishop, and the chariot is the rook.  Chess is my favorite board game.  You should play it if you don't already.

Me and Elf in February

(This paper was written under duress.)

Assorted Chess Photos



Our new Monroi.




Little sister is learning to play chess, too!  She knows the names of all the pieces.



We have to have a quick way to clean up the pieces at the end of our chess day.  Polish pottery to the rescue!



Emperor using his new MonRoi to analyze a previously played game on the board.

The Kansas Open

Emperor recently competed in the Kansas Open in Overland Park, KS, for three days.  There were over 100 players, mostly adults.  Emperor is now working through "500 English Miniatures" by Bill Wall.  The "English" means that the white player always begins by moving his pawn to c4.  Yes, an entire book about one pawn move.  At some point, we will also work through an entire book about the Caro-Kann (white moves to e4, then black to c6), the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (BDG) which begins 1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. f3 and Ruy Lopez (e4 e5).  I'm hoping to get through the English Miniatures book this year and get midway through another; however, Emperor plays two games in the books on most weekdays and gets to decide which book and which games.  Emperor had a hard time in this last tournament and wants to sharpen his game.