Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVIII

Hola darlings!  [Sure hope what follows makes sense -- no guarantee because my proof-reading abilities, always "iffy" at best, sure aren't working tonight.]

I came, I saw, I - well, I got a draw!  LOL!  And it was a good draw too, I think, in R3.  I had the white pieces against a 1300 player (I'm at 603).  More about that later.

I took TWO photographs during the entire tournament -- of the outside of the building! 



Main entrance of tournament site:  Holiday In Express Airport, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Welcome, all Ye, who come willingly into the Maw of the Chess Goddess.  Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha...
[imagine suitable sound effects here, munching and spitting out of bones, for instance].

Below is photo #2 -- my entire cache of photos taken the entire day.  Am I getting senile, do you think???

A view to the southeast from main entrance.  The original forecast today had been to wake up to intermittent showers and possible thunderstorms in the afternoon.  The showers were nowhere in evidence when I awoke a 6 a.m. Got ready and
had a cab to the hotel, arrived about 9:15 or 9:20 a.m.  Checked in with Tom and Robin and then ran outside with
my camera to take these photos, intent on doing an entire day of blog-worthy photos.  The Goddess had other plans for
me today, though.  The weather I travelled through was warm, slightly muggy, and beautiful.  There was some thunder
and rain -- was that during Round 3?  Maybe, because that is the round I scored my draw in.  A sign from Caissa?

The photos above were meant to be the start of a photographic essay on the odessey of my trials and tribulations during Challenge XVIII.  Geez Louise!  Didn't even think to pull out the camera in the skittles room.  I'm usually the photo-taking queen - snapping photos of everything in sight, including coffee carafes and errant score sheets and signs on restrooms and the errant butt-crack or two.  But - not a PHOTO showed up on my antique Nikon this evening.

I'm too tired to check tonight, but I do believe there are a few photos of Ellen Wanek, Janet Ulrich and I on my camera, taken by a passer-by parent or player we asked to "shoot us, please" in the lobby of the hotel prior to the start of R1.  Assuming those photographs do, in fact, exist and I didn't imagine the whole thing (reference my imaginary moves in R3, below), AND I don't look like the Bride of Freddy Krueger in them, I'll publish them tomorrow. 

I stayed for R4.  I already had a bad head-ache but I so wanted to see how it would turn out for everyone, and to see if I could press for a win (gasp!), a draw, or a game I would feel good about my effort despite a loss. Mistake.  I should have just hung out in the skittles room during R4 and not played.  But I didn't.  I had the black pieces in R4 and for some reason, probably because I am just so perverse sometimes, I often manage to play better with the black pieces than with white.  Maybe it's just because I try harder when I have the black pieces.  So I thought I might have another "competitive" game, competitive by my lights, and entered the round with pounding temples and high hopes.

I am rather proud of how I played those first three rounds earlier today.  No excuses, though, for crashing and burning in less than 10 moves in R4.  How embarassing!  As per usual, I did not see the checkmate coming AT ALL.  Arrrggghhhh!

The best news on a personal level is that I never felt close to tears the entire time I was at Challenge XVIII, and I'm happy about that.  I thought it might - could - happen.  Brace yourselves-- and for those of you too young to appreciate true romanticism, or those of you who gag at the slightest hint of l'amour -- DO NOT READ WHAT FOLLOWS!

Last night I watched "Return to Me," on regular old t.v. (no cable or U-Verse in this house).  I watched it 'cuz I had paid to watch it online some years before, in happier days when Mr. Don was still with us, and I was so touched by it.  It is a wonderful romantic movie made in 2000, starring Minnie Driver and David Duchovny ("X-Files"), with a great supporting role of "Grandpa" played by Carroll O'Connor -- and I cried and cried and cried!  Sobbed my butt off (I wish it had actually shed some pounds but, alas, it did not, according to the scale this morning).  Oh yes, I know, how absolutely STOOPID of me to watch Such. A. Film. On. The. Eve. Of. The. Anniversary. Of. Mr. Don's. Death.  Duh, Jan! 

Okay - here's the transcendent part of this uber-emotional experience last night -- I had my patio door open to the temperate evening to let in fresh air while I was working at my dinette table (am I the only person on the planet who still calls that dining space between kitchen and family room a "dinette") and the t.v. playing in the family room, with one eye on the laptop screen and one eye on the t.v. (I have developed ambidexterous eyes over the years...).  Then I started crying as the movie progressed, and then sobbing (loudly) during the happy and sad parts of the movie, and then the squirrels who are nesting in my back yard garden (many trees) started chiming in, too, with their cries, at about 10:30 p.m.

OH MY!  Not kidding -- Quite a sob-fest.  I didn't make a recording, though, to prove it to you, LOL!  (I have no idea how to do that on my now 'ancient' Nikon Coolpix 5600 that has about 3 split seconds worth of recoding time, anyway).  I'm laughing about it now, recounting it in this blog entry, and last night, I was laughing and crying about it at the same time. Those female squirrels who were "singing the blues" with me last night, some of them I've practically fed by hand with nuts since I was first able to entice them to come up to the patio door for a food offering (peanuts and in-shell hazelnuts).

Laugh or Cry!  I didn't shed a tear today.  I talked about Don with Ellen, and with Janet Ulrich, mom to the fabulous chessplayers Anne, Rachel and Susanna, and I was okay - not close to shedding a tear.  I'm so happy to have finally met Janet Ulrich in person -- we had some long chats in the skittles room between rounds.  Jim Ulrich, the head of the family, also played in Challenge XVIII. 

About that draw in R3. OF COURSE I did a "Jan" and somehow managed to add one extra set of moves into the game, geez!  I messed up the moves early -- on move 7.  But fortunately Ellen and I were looking over my score sheet after the game with the intent of playing through the game to see where I might have done better, and we got to the strange moves early.  I checked with Paul Kaye, the young man I had the W pieces against in R3, and we went through our score sheets.  They agreed on the first 6 moves, disagreed on the 7th and 8th sets of moves.  I had one more line of moves (29 versus Mr. Kaye's 28 in all) on my score sheet!  After lines7-8 on my score sheet, and line 7 on Paul's sheet, we agreed on the rest of the moves. 

After puzzling it over in the skittles room with Paul and Ellen, and as well as my fried and aching brain can figure out this evening, it looks like I wrote down a phantom move for my 7th move with white, wrote down my actual move with white under Paul's (black) move on line 7, wrote down another bogus move for me (white) on line 8, and recorded the correct move for Paul (Knight to d7) under black on line 8. 

On my score sheet, from move 9 down, our notations match. This was line 8 on Paul's scoresheet.  I'll scan it here tomorrow showing my notations and scribbles after consulting with Paul.  See what you think.

HOW ON EARTH DOES THIS HAPPEN?  No, I did NOT have my camera out or have to go to the bathroom (I am careful to always visit the Ladies' Room a few minutes before I seat myself for the ensuing round) and thus got distracted...

Of the three games I felt I played with my best effort, I was happy with them (in terms of  thinking about my moves, not worrying about time on the clock but trying to think things through before making a move that looked good on the surface but was a death in a move or two, trying to plot out alternative strategies and "what-ifs," trying to make my pieces dance, and trying to make sure all my pieces were protected -- I have about a thousand years worth of work still to do on THAT).  Game 4 - no tears shed.  I disregarded my own intuition regarding my physical limitations to play, and I paid the price for it.  Lesson learned.  Over, and over, and over again...  Hmmm.  Well, I'm nothing if not persistent...

More tomorrow, or possily later this evening, because at last the pounding in my head and the pains in my temples and between my eyes is starting to decrease.  Unfortunately, the only pain reliever that I can take while on Warfarin (Coumadin) -- blood thinner -- is Tylenol, and the only Tylenol I had in the house tonight was two sample capsules received in the mail, in April 1991.  Holy Hathor!  Talk about frugal, geez! 

Making a Difference: My Chess Buddy Ellen Wanek

I've written about Ellen Wanek before.  I met her at a Hales Corners Chess Challenge a few Challenges ago, and we hit it off immediately.  She's beautiful, and gracious, and so kind, and just has this effervescent personality that draws people to her.  You know how some people just have an aura about them?  Ellen has that kind of aura.  I am so happy to have met her. 

Ellen teaches kids how to play chess at Sheboygan area schools and has been a driving force behind getting a "Chess in the Park" program going in Sheboygan, too.  So glad to see Ellen - and her work - getting publicity!  And I'm so happy to read about more Wisconsin women getting actively involved in bringing chess to children - and to everyone. 

From The Sheboygan Press

Check mates: Students make their moves in chess tournaments
February 25, 2013
By Kali Thiel

Editor’s note: This is one in an occasional series of articles about Sheboygan-area residents who are going the extra mile to make Sheboygan and beyond a better place.

If you see a car around town with a “Chess Nut” vanity plate, it’s likely Ellen Wanek’s.

Wanek, 61, devotes much of her retired life to the game of chess. She’s a coach at four Sheboygan schools, she privately teaches about 10 students every week and she helps out at many of the area’s weekend chess tournaments.

“The woman is addicted to chess,” said Al Wanek, Ellen’s husband.

Wanek isn’t alone. There’s a growing interest in chess that’s sweeping across Sheboygan County schools. And on Saturday, nearly 200 area youth competed in the annual Acuity Chess Invitational put on by Acuity and the Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation.

Shawn Chrisman, director of the Acuity tournament, said more than 15 Sheboygan County schools were represented at the weekend tournament and he estimated around 400 youth in Sheboygan County are active in chess in some fashion.

The Acuity Invitational is one of about 10 tournaments offered in Sheboygan County from November to March each year. A few years ago, there weren’t even half that many though, said Katie Delahunt, WSCF board member.

When Delahunt moved to the Sheboygan area about eight years ago from Milwaukee, she said she was amazed that Sheboygan didn’t have many chess tournaments. Her children had been active in chess at their previous school and she missed having that opportunity for them.

“In Milwaukee, chess was a huge thing,” Delahunt said. “You played chess during the lunch hour or after school. Some schools were very elaborate and they even hired experts to coach. They’d bring in experts from Russia that are top players worldwide.”

Delahunt, the Sheboygan/Kohler Municipal Court judge, said she was instrumental in getting tournaments started in Sheboygan about six years ago and ever since then, chess has really taken off.

“The thing with tournaments is it motivates (the students),” Delahunt said. “The kids who are in a club then have a purpose.”

Wanek said she became involved with chess tournaments after volunteering for one at what was then Holy Name School about four years ago, and she’s been hooked ever since.

“When I saw this type of chess tournament with so many children, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I was just loving every minute of it,” Wanek said. “I have just really been giving my life to this the last few years through scholastic chess because I can see it just benefitting so many different areas of people’s lives.”

Among the numerous benefits chess offers, Wanek said it can boost IQ, promote creative thinking, improve teens’ decision-making skills and it can even help prevent dementia.

Delahunt said she likes that chess provides a different way for students to get involved at school.

“For kids who aren’t maybe basketball players or who don’t have another activity to do during the winter, it’s something great for them to do,” she said. “And they really enjoy it and it gets them focused and they learn how to win and lose. There are just so many benefits.”

The tournament at Acuity is unique in that it is the only area tournament that is free. Most tournaments charge $10 or so per competitor.

“It brings more kids out who have never played in a tournament before,” said Chrisman. “A lot of parents think, OK if this is a free tournament then I’ll try it out and as long as I know my kid likes it, I’ll spend that time.”

New to the Acuity Invitational this year was Random Lake seventh-grader Alexander Jentsch. Even though Jentsch said he’s been playing chess since about second grade, this was the first year he participated in tournaments.

Jentsch said he likes playing chess because it “keeps your brain working.”

His mom, Sheila Jentsch, said that even though she can’t play chess very well, she likes it because her son likes it, which is why she got permission from the Random Lake schools administration to start a chess club next year.

“Right now (my son) is the only one going to tournaments,” she said. “But I know there are other kids who play chess so I’m trying to get a group going.”

It was just last year that Lake Country Academy, Horace Mann Middle School, Lincoln Erdman Elementary, the Mosaic School and Grant Elementary/ESAA got clubs started. They already had a combined total of nearly 100 kids in the Acuity tournament this year.

Three of those schools — Horace Mann, Lincoln-Erdman and Lake Country — are Wanek’s proteges. She also coaches at Sheboygan Christian School.

“Having this in place as an educational tool is phenomenal, but the personal life values and training that this gives goes beyond even that,” Wanek said.

“It has been just an absolute wonderful time for my life. Here I am, I’m older, and instead of becoming a couch potato, this has just been a whole new horizon to really give your life to and I think it’s a worthwhile mission because these children are really being blessed by it,” she said.


Other blog posts about Ellen Wanek:

May 1, 2011:  Chess Queen, Ellen Wanek, Chess Coach
October 22, 2011:  Hales Corners Chess Challenge XIV (some photos)
April 22, 2012:  Hales Corners Chess Challenge XV (some photos - I was off my water pill and look horrid and bloated in all of the photos taken during this time; less than 2 months laters my heart problems revealed themselves, but in this event I won my first and only tournament game!)
June 28, 2012:  Sheboygan's Chess in the Park
July 14, 2012:  Of Kings, Queens and Castles -- Chess in the Park helps children improve game during the summer

Sheboygan's Chess in the Park Hopes to Grow Future GMs

My chess buddy, Ellen Wanek!  Give a shout-out and a hearty round of applause, please!

Article from The Sheboygan Press Online

Of kings, queens and castles: Chess in the Park helps children improve game during summer

11:36 PM, Jul 13, 2012

There's no doubt in Ellen Wanek's mind the popularity of chess has grown in local schools.

So to continue students' excitement about the strategy-filled board game during the summer months, Wanek, the chess coach at four area schools, began a weekly club known as Chess in the Park. Each Monday from 6 to 8 p.m., elementary, middle and high school chess club members bring their families and friends to Vollrath Park to play chess.

Wanek — the chess coach at Lake Country Academy, Lincoln-Erdman Elementary School, Horace Mann Middle School and Sheboygan Christian School — said she promotes chess as much as possible because of the mental development it creates in children who play. She said research has shown that chess improves students' IQ, math skills, reading skills, critical thinking skills and it develops memory.

"But here's something really special," Wanek said. "Chess develops into your thinking that you actually think through the consequences of all your actions. At tournaments, when kids are under a lot of pressure, they're able to develop a sense of self-control and discipline, where they think through the consequences of a multitude of different choices. That's life-changing in the lives of children."

The large crowd (about 30 people usually play each week) at Chess in the Park this past Monday night included players of all ages, between 4 and 61 years old, and was a promising sight for local chess enthusiasts, like Plymouth High School chess coach Stephan Des Moulin.

"There's a lot of schools here in Sheboygan that are getting a good following in the chess clubs," Des Moulin said. "There are some pretty talented young players."

Students from all different schools have a chance to connect at Chess in the Park, along with their parents and siblings. Des Moulin said it's a good way to get kids to view chess as a fun activity, rather than a school-only activity.

(For instance:) Avinash Murthy, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Lake Country Academy, has been playing chess since he was 3. His grandfather taught him how to play, and this past school year he played competitively as a part of his school's newly formed chess club.

Hales Corners Chess Challenge XV!!!!

I came, I saw, I fought through my first three games and beat off an Excedrin Headache Number 4,320, which is specifically reserved for female chess players (432 is the number of the Goddess, just ask historian, writer and myth-teller Joseph Campbell).  I lost all three games.  But I, even I, who am nothing if not brutally honest with myself, knew that I was playing "better" than during my pitiful appearance at Hales Corners Chess Challenge XIV last October.  I was lasting more moves into the games, I was taking more time to make moves and not paying much attention to the clock, and I was trying to "see" the board -- not with so much success, unfortunately.

Ellen Wanek, everyone's favorite mom and chess coach, was there to prop me up and we cheered each other on.  I even managed to write down most of the moves more or less correctly this time.  I didn't have the guts to have Sheldon play through one of those games with me afterward in the Skittles Room, though.  LOL!  And so, even though I had not been even anywhere near a draw (leastwise, as far as I could tell), I felt not so bad about how I was playing.  Yeah, I was making idiot dumb mistakes and - par for the course - recognizing moves I should have made one move too late!  EEK!  Always, always, always my opponent would see the threat AFTER I did, and recover.  Damn damn damn!

I had McDonalds for lunch!  It's been so long since I've had a Big Mac and fries, I can't tell you, darlings, how good they tasted!  Yeah, 10,000 calories, I'm sure I gained five pounds just by sniffing the air while I was waiting in line to place my order. 

And - Ellen had cacao 70% chocolate bars in her stash of goodies.  We actually hid out in stairwells to eat it, it was that good and that forbidden...

Hmmmm, come to think of it, we shared a final cacao bar before our last game.  I wonder...

Here is the only photo that turned out that was taken with my camera -- two other shots (one I took shortly after I arrived and my hands were shaking so badly I don't even know why I bothered!) turned out blurred.  This one, taken by an obliging gentleman, turned out nicely - except I look absolutely GHASTLY, OHMYGODDESS - I look like I weigh 300 pounds and my eyes are so swollen and my face is so puff (and red) you can hardly even see that I actually have eyes!  What the Hell!  I'm amazed my looks didn't scare my opponents into giving me some wins, geez!  And those glasses up on my forehead - sort of look like pointy little devil ears, don't they...

Manisha Vootkur, Teja Karimikonda, Ellen Wanek, and Yours Truly,
Ms. "I dont even recognize myself, geez!"

I had asked my friends and even my enemies to pray to the Goddess of Chess for me to give me at least one draw for Challenge XV.  That's all I asked for - just one little draw.  Guess what darlings - I GOT A WIN!

WOOOOOO WOOOOOO!  Unfortunately, I got a win against a gentleman who looks like Kris Kringle.  Take a look at that photo above - do you see the head of a white-haired, white-bearded gent in the background between Manisha and Teja?  He was my final opponent for the day, in Round 4.

Round 4, when I was so tired and bleary-eyed I couldn't really even see straight and my brain felt so fried.  But I was determined, absolutely determined, to keep on fighting until the bitter end.  Just like the tag line in "We Are The Champions" by my most favorite band ever, Queen.

I knew things were going my way when I snaggged Mr. Kringle's Queen and he didn't have an adequate response.

Now really, who wants to beat up on a gentleman who resembles Santa Claus?  I did think about that, I truly did.  And then , well - I sort of beat him up anyway.  I'm happy that I won a game - FINALLY - but I'm sad, too.  Because winning means that someone else loses.  And that is never a good feeling.  At least, you know, unless your opponent is an absolute Schmuck whose heart you want to cut out and burn while still beating, it shouldn't be. 

Here is part of the game.  I was Black -- forgive the notation, it's not the best:

1.  e4  e5
2.  f3   Nc6
3.  Nc3  Ng6
4.  Ne2  d6
5.  d3  Be7
6.  Bg5  O-O
7.  g3  Nf6 to h5
8.  Qd2  Nc6 to d4
9.  Ng1  c6
10.  f4  Bg4
11.  f4 x e5  Nf3
12.  Kf2  NxQd2  Seeing/making this move was like - hearing the Heavenly Choir...
13.  Be2  Qb6
14.  Ke1  ??? for some reason I don't have a move written down - I may have fainted or something...

I'm not clear on the moves between 15 and the end of the game. I have moves written down, but I seem to have switched to moving the white pieces, at least, in my notation I did. Strange, very strange.  I must have forgot to write down another move.  Darlings, I WAS moving the black pieces on the board.  Honest!  I'm sure my opponent would have objected at some point if I'd started moving his pieces around in addition to my own...

What I can tell you is that the final three moves were Qx Nb1, Rx Bg5, px Rg5, white resigned, I have an "R" under Black at move 23 but I didn't resign, so it must have been Mr. Kringle resigning on White's move 24.  Oy, some Chess Goddess I am, duh!  But I still had my Queen, because I had taken Mr. Kringle's on move 12. 

Maybe some day I'll sit down at a board and see if I can get it straightened out. 

FLASH:

Before I sign off for the night, cuz I've got a steak sitting on the counter getting down to room temperature that is calling my name Jan....Jan..... here are the final round standings:

Open:

  No. Name St Rate Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Score

1. Santarius, Erik (1)........... WI 2387 W9 W16 W17 W4 4.0
2. Burgess, Jon L (3)............ IL 2206 W19 W6 W10 W11 4.0
10. Ulrich, Rachel J (36)......... WI 1763 W54 W18 L2 W19 3.0 (Wins $120 Goddesschess prize money)
50. Pahl, Sandra R (53)........... WI 1373 L14 L47 L49 -B- 1.0 (I think Sandra should win some Goddesschess $$, it's not her fault so many people dropped out after R3 that she didn't have an opponent for R4)
56. Karimikonda, Teja (51)........ WI 1439 L41 L39 L27 L43 0.0  (We were rooting for Teja; she won Goddesschess prize money in Challege XIV playing in the Open Section)

Reserve:

  No. Name St Rate 1 2 3 4 Score
1. Loomer, Xavier Mar (19)....... WI 1209 W7 W5 W4 W12 4.0
2. Ran, Eric M (26).............. WI 1109 W41 W10 W19 W9 4.0
15. Vootkur, Manisha (31)......... WI 856 W44 W14 L12 D18 2.5 (Manisha wins $50 Goddesschess prize money)
27. Ulrich, Susanna G (23)........ WI 1161 L13 L3 W49 W41 2.0 (Susanna wins $40 Goddesschess prize money)
38. Wanek, Ellen Ann (32)......... WI 852 W45 L22 L8 L24 1.0
42. Filali, Sara A (39)........... WI 597 L29 -F- W44 L28 1.0
43. Newton, Jan L (40)............ WI 575 L36 L11 L24 W49 1.0
It was such a pleasure seeing everyone again, and chatting chatting chatting, oy, I'm hoarse! Congratulations to all of the winners!  Rachel Ulrich in the Open and Susanna Ulrich in the Reserve also receive free entry to Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVI, should they choose to play, courtesy of Goddesschess. 

Hmmmm, seems I'm going to lose some ratings points, LOL! Go figure!  Oh, this is just too funny!  I started in 40th place and finished in 43rd, despite my win. Okay, let me at that steak...

 

Chess Queen: Ellen Wanek, Chess Coach

From sheboyganpress.com

Chess queen: Ellen Wanek became a chess coach by accident
10:48 PM, Feb. 4, 2011
Written by
janet ortegon
Sheboygan Press staff

Ellen Wanek and students. Image from article.

Ellen Wanek doesn't look like someone who would slay your king or capture your bishop. With her bright blue eyes and wide smile she looks like she might invite you over for tea or ask about your family.

Instead, she lovingly says things like, "Do you know the difference between a draw and stalemate?"

Wanek, 59, is the new chess coach at Sheboygan Christian School, a school already known for its skilled chess players and commitment to the game.

But the gig happened by accident.

A longtime devotee of chess, Wanek took a call last spring from parent Kim Werth, whose children were involved in the school's club. Their coach was stepping down and the club was in need of new leadership.

Werth said she called Wanek out of the blue and she had a sales pitch all ready. She didn't need it.

"Right away, she was just like, 'Yes, I'd love to, thank you so much for asking!'" Werth said. "I was like, 'Really?'"

Really.

Wanek took over the club, and as she helped the 26 members prepare for today's big tournament, she has emphasized the power of the game to help them develop their thinking skills, their strategic planning and problem-solving.

"There is such a multitude of blessings and benefits scholastically and personally," Wanek said. "Really, every parent would have their child in chess if they understood that. I even hate to say 'play' or 'game' because it's more academic."

For instance, studies show that chess results in higher IQ scores and strengthens a child's language and math skills, memory, critical thinking, demonstrated concentration and logical thinking, Wanek said.

"That was the turning point for me — the calmly thinking through the consequences of your actions," she said. "I thought, man, how many young lives would be changed today if they'd been able to calmly think through consequences of their actions?"

Of course, all those mental benefits don't mean chess isn't fun. At practice this week, Xavier Lee focused on the board in front of him and tried to figure out what his opponent, Tommy Eggebeen, was going to do next.

Rest of article.