Today I received word that my application for level 4 chess coach certification has been approved. If you are not familiar with the program, USCF has started to put an official stamp on those who are qualified to teach chess.
At first, I was very skeptical of the program, our game has a few personalities that while rated highly are not the kind of people I would want teaching my kid. The certification has nothing to do with saying whether a person is a good teacher or has the classroom skills to be effective, it merely tests if someone has the base chess knowledge, and a track record to be successful.
When I stopped by the office in Crossville a couple weeks ago, I was told that about 50 or so applications had been submitted. When you consider that there are probably more than 50 people in Chicago teaching chess, it is safe to say that so far the program has been underutilized.
So the question is, does certifying coaches have merit? And how important will it be to schools in the coming years?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sponsorship in chess
For years, we have heard from many different people in our sport, that the key to chess becoming more mainstream, or accessable, or popular is sponsorship. Sponsorship for the GMs and top players so that they can support themselves. Sponsorship to lower the cost for kids to participate. Sponsorship to headline tournaments, increasing prize funds and interest in the game. It has been a buzzword and holy grail for many a chess politician.
From a chess point of view, how is it that other things that don't qualify as sports like spelling bees and poker can find financial angels, but our game can't? Well, the single biggest thing is this, we don't market well, and have no idea how to showcase our strengths or even present an attractive product.
When I have met with corporations about sponsoring kids tournaments, the first question I get asked is about the demographics of chess players or their parents. I asked USCF if any studies or surveys had been done detailing this, and the answer was unfortunately no. So how can we expect a corporation that is donating money for advertising and goodwill, to throw money at us when we can't even tell them who US is? The problem is that developing a report on this to be handed out to prospective sponsors is quite expensive, and why it has not been done yet.
USCF would be well served to make this investment, as it will likely pay off in the long run. We do have plenty to offer sponsors. Our players are bright consumers that are attractive to many industries. We do have something to offer, we just need to find the right box and bows to wrap it up in nicely.
From a chess point of view, how is it that other things that don't qualify as sports like spelling bees and poker can find financial angels, but our game can't? Well, the single biggest thing is this, we don't market well, and have no idea how to showcase our strengths or even present an attractive product.
When I have met with corporations about sponsoring kids tournaments, the first question I get asked is about the demographics of chess players or their parents. I asked USCF if any studies or surveys had been done detailing this, and the answer was unfortunately no. So how can we expect a corporation that is donating money for advertising and goodwill, to throw money at us when we can't even tell them who US is? The problem is that developing a report on this to be handed out to prospective sponsors is quite expensive, and why it has not been done yet.
USCF would be well served to make this investment, as it will likely pay off in the long run. We do have plenty to offer sponsors. Our players are bright consumers that are attractive to many industries. We do have something to offer, we just need to find the right box and bows to wrap it up in nicely.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Blogging Again
I'm BAAACK! After a 14 month absence from the blogosphere, I have decided to return to blogging...if there is anyone left out there reading these things. What have I been up to? Well, chesswise I have been involved in working with the Chicago Blaze, have run a 500 player National Youth Action tournament, been teaching, and am in the process of putting together my first big money adult tournament to take place in this December.
I will be posting about all of these things, as well as some of the current issues in Illinois chess which there are several hot topics.
Back to the Atlantic City International, which is the 50K prize fund event taking place in Atlantic City, NJ from December 17-19. Our goal (Tim Just's and myself), is to provide a different type of tournament experience than the typical Goichberg swiss (not that there is anything wrong with those). We will be providing boards and sets (trying to do clocks as well, but that doesn't look like it will happen). If you enjoy playing in these types of events, what type of side events, or perks would you like to see? We want to know. I am also looking at having a poker side event during the tournament, which would be interesting given the mass amount of chess players who have gravitated to poker. Our website for this event is http://www.chessweekend.com/
There is a lot going on chesswise, and I am hoping to start updating this blog 2-3 times per week. Check back early and often.
Glenn
I will be posting about all of these things, as well as some of the current issues in Illinois chess which there are several hot topics.
Back to the Atlantic City International, which is the 50K prize fund event taking place in Atlantic City, NJ from December 17-19. Our goal (Tim Just's and myself), is to provide a different type of tournament experience than the typical Goichberg swiss (not that there is anything wrong with those). We will be providing boards and sets (trying to do clocks as well, but that doesn't look like it will happen). If you enjoy playing in these types of events, what type of side events, or perks would you like to see? We want to know. I am also looking at having a poker side event during the tournament, which would be interesting given the mass amount of chess players who have gravitated to poker. Our website for this event is http://www.chessweekend.com/
There is a lot going on chesswise, and I am hoping to start updating this blog 2-3 times per week. Check back early and often.
Glenn
Sunday, November 16, 2008
91 Players in Orland!?
91 players in Orland Park? The title even looks surreal. This month attendance exploded, and we almost ran out of space. Next month it would be amazing to try to top 100! We will be raffling off prizes for the Holidays as we did last year.
Our very first Orland scholastic two years ago had a whopping 6 players. Six, that is not a typo. To come this far and give players in this area a place to play without driving an hour has been one of my bigger achievements in chess.
Our very first Orland scholastic two years ago had a whopping 6 players. Six, that is not a typo. To come this far and give players in this area a place to play without driving an hour has been one of my bigger achievements in chess.
The Illinois All Grade
I meant to blog about this event during the week, but I have to admit that I needed a little time to recover. 485 players, it was our largest event yet. Most of the people I have spoken with about the event seemed pleased with it, which is nice because of the hundreds of hours of logistics and prep work that goes in before that day.
But of course, the big story was the kids. Results can be found at http://chessforlife.com/chess/allgrade08/allgrade08.html
It was amazing to see how many talented kids there are in our area. It would not surprise me at all to see many of them place well at Supernationals next year.
One little proud anecdote from the event for me. As I was at the podium reading off the team results for the 5th grade section, it had occurred to me that earlier when I had spoken with a parent from Noonan (where I teach), he had mentioned that Noonan was in 3rd place in that section after a could of rounds. Since 5th place and 4th place had already been called out, my eyes scanned up to see if we had gotten 3rd, we hadn't. I continued scanned until it hit me that there we were in first place. I literally froze up at the podium to the point where Alice Holt who was handing out the trophies walked over to me and asked what was wrong, or if I was ok. I pointed to the results with a proud smile, and said, just taking a moment to savor this, she laughed and I went back to reading wondering if the team knew yet. When I read off the second place team, they started jumping around. Not sure when the last time a team from the south suburbs won a state chess title, but it was awfully gratifying to be there for this one.
Palatine HS and Sean Fisher-Rohde were exceptional hosts that hopefully will welcome us back in 2010. The TD staff had many of the best in the business in Wayne Clark, Jeff Wiewel, Mike Zacate, Betsy Dynako, Gary Janssen, Chris Merli, and Elizabeth Villaflor. And we would have been completely lost without the wonderful volunteering and support of Alice Holt, Margaret Drier, Maret Thorpe, Jon Burgess, Jerry Neugarten, Andi Rosen, Eric Rosen, Trevor Magness, and apologies to anyone that I may have missed.
Also, to any of the top finishers from the event or their coaches that may be reading this, we are in the process of writing an article on the tournament for the Illinois Chess Bulletin. If you have a game you are proud of and would like to submit it for the article, please contact me.
Thanks,
Glenn
But of course, the big story was the kids. Results can be found at http://chessforlife.com/chess/allgrade08/allgrade08.html
It was amazing to see how many talented kids there are in our area. It would not surprise me at all to see many of them place well at Supernationals next year.
One little proud anecdote from the event for me. As I was at the podium reading off the team results for the 5th grade section, it had occurred to me that earlier when I had spoken with a parent from Noonan (where I teach), he had mentioned that Noonan was in 3rd place in that section after a could of rounds. Since 5th place and 4th place had already been called out, my eyes scanned up to see if we had gotten 3rd, we hadn't. I continued scanned until it hit me that there we were in first place. I literally froze up at the podium to the point where Alice Holt who was handing out the trophies walked over to me and asked what was wrong, or if I was ok. I pointed to the results with a proud smile, and said, just taking a moment to savor this, she laughed and I went back to reading wondering if the team knew yet. When I read off the second place team, they started jumping around. Not sure when the last time a team from the south suburbs won a state chess title, but it was awfully gratifying to be there for this one.
Palatine HS and Sean Fisher-Rohde were exceptional hosts that hopefully will welcome us back in 2010. The TD staff had many of the best in the business in Wayne Clark, Jeff Wiewel, Mike Zacate, Betsy Dynako, Gary Janssen, Chris Merli, and Elizabeth Villaflor. And we would have been completely lost without the wonderful volunteering and support of Alice Holt, Margaret Drier, Maret Thorpe, Jon Burgess, Jerry Neugarten, Andi Rosen, Eric Rosen, Trevor Magness, and apologies to anyone that I may have missed.
Also, to any of the top finishers from the event or their coaches that may be reading this, we are in the process of writing an article on the tournament for the Illinois Chess Bulletin. If you have a game you are proud of and would like to submit it for the article, please contact me.
Thanks,
Glenn
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Scholastic results and Scheduling
Today was our first Orland Scholastic of the year, and we drew 42 players, which is about a 50% increase over last years October event. We have added a rated section which was dominated by wunderkind William Radak. William has been rocketing up the rating list and should be near 1600 now putting him near the top of his age group in the country, not bad for a second grader. Last week Shiva Maharaj dubbed him the "Harry Potter of chess" for his more than passing resemblance to the young Potter as well is his prowess on the board. The title drew a nice grin of approval and a high five from the young man.
Coming up next is the Illinois All Grade championships coming up on November 8th. So far registration has been a little slower than expected at about 240 right now, but we are still projecting that we break 400 for the event.
Glenn
Coming up next is the Illinois All Grade championships coming up on November 8th. So far registration has been a little slower than expected at about 240 right now, but we are still projecting that we break 400 for the event.
Glenn
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Allan Hsu is a lowlife
Been away from blogging for a while now, and the scholastic chess schedule is now in full swing. Unfortunately, it seems as though despite there being fewer tournaments, the turnout among the players has actually decreased. Maybe that will be a column for another day.
We are also in week 9 of the US chess league season, where our Chicago Blaze is 4-4 playing against the Arizona Scorpions in a match that has significant playoff ramifications. A win puts our destiny in our own hands and even gives us a chance at the #2 seed, a draw and week 10 becomes a must win game. I will probably blog again after the match.
Anyways, lets get to the title of the post. Back in the wild west days of the internet, cybersquatting was a practice that was common and even lucrative. The idea was that you either vulture a domain name when it expired, or beat a person or a company to getting a website at what their natural name is. Apparently this practice is still common. Several years ago the Seattle Chess Foundation (aka the AF4C) had their site taken and turned into a porn site. Allan Hsu purchased the Illinois Chess Association's http://www.ilchess.org/ address, and is holding it for ransom for $3000. To do this to a non-for-profit group is despicable. If you would like to tell Allan what you think of his doing this, you can contact him at allan_hsu@hotmail.com
To get to the real ICA website, please go to http://www.il-chess.org/
Glenn
We are also in week 9 of the US chess league season, where our Chicago Blaze is 4-4 playing against the Arizona Scorpions in a match that has significant playoff ramifications. A win puts our destiny in our own hands and even gives us a chance at the #2 seed, a draw and week 10 becomes a must win game. I will probably blog again after the match.
Anyways, lets get to the title of the post. Back in the wild west days of the internet, cybersquatting was a practice that was common and even lucrative. The idea was that you either vulture a domain name when it expired, or beat a person or a company to getting a website at what their natural name is. Apparently this practice is still common. Several years ago the Seattle Chess Foundation (aka the AF4C) had their site taken and turned into a porn site. Allan Hsu purchased the Illinois Chess Association's http://www.ilchess.org/ address, and is holding it for ransom for $3000. To do this to a non-for-profit group is despicable. If you would like to tell Allan what you think of his doing this, you can contact him at allan_hsu@hotmail.com
To get to the real ICA website, please go to http://www.il-chess.org/
Glenn
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