Saturday Chess (#1)

For many years now, a gentleman by the name of Josh Stewart has been running a chess group for children. Originally, I went with my oldest daughter, Ailene. (She is now 22.) Now I am going with my youngest daughter, Angel. (She is a Senior in High School - and is 17 years old.) 

The group is lively and focuses on chess improvement. For a small fee, younger children in the Pensacola area get to play chess from 9 AM until around 12 noon. Then they get to have Pizza. The idea is for the kids to have fun and stretch their minds in a organized and festive atmosphere. (They meet on the second and fourth Saturday of every month.) 

We normally play a few games, take a break and look at a chess problem - as a group. Then we play 1-2 more games ... and then its time for lunch!!! 😋 

The usual format of this event is that we get to play 10-minute games. Sometimes, when I have no one to watch my autistic daughter, I have to drop Angel off and turn around and go home. But - this past Saturday, (Jan 12th, 2019); I was able to stay and play because my oldest daughter was there to watch her autistic sister. (Because I am a master, Josh normally makes me give all the kids in his group Queen odds. I don't mind, if I lose - I have a good excuse ... I was a Queen down at the start of the game! And - in case you think I don't try - for many years, I had never lost a single game, even at Queen odds!!!!!) 

In the first round, I played a very young player ... he seemed determined to play a good game and was taking his time. Obviously, I am lost from the get-go, as I start every game minus my Queen. But being a competitive fellow, I always try to make a go of things.

I am 99% certain this was the position in the first game: 

It was White to move - in the position above.  

Here is the position - below - as a puzzle. 

In the second round, I played Josh's son. He played well for a while, but then he lost focus and simply began dropping pieces.  

In the third yound, I played a young Indian lad, (Benjamin) ... he was around 10-12 years old. 

I am pretty certain that we had the following position at one point, (I was White.):  

I could not re-create all the moves. I do remember that my opponent had a completely won position ... but then when he was under a minute on the clock ... he dropped his Queen.  

After this, we looked at a chess problem. I had brought several chess books with me, so Josh looked at one of the positions out of one of my books.  

The following position is #165 of the book: "200 Challenging Chess Puzzles," by Martin Greif.  

Here is the position - below - as a puzzle. (White to move ... and mate in four moves.)  

I did not play after the problem ... I was a little tired. Plus, I was happy with my three wins. Additionally, they sometimes play "Give-away Chess." (I stink at that variant, so I did not play in the last couple of games.)  

Thanks to Josh Stewart and also CiCi's Pizza fro a very enjoyable Saturday of chess!!! 😎