Our First Three Weeks Watch Out... More to Come

Good Afternoon,

The kids at The Waterfront School are excited about lunchtime chess every Thursday. We had 18 kids come out for the first hectic day. Unfortunately, I only brought 7 chess sets, the same as last year. I didn't expect such a great response! But it was really wonderful to see the kids having fun. A few kids left disappointed, because they didn't get a chance to play. So, for our second week, I brought more chess sets: a total of 10, to accomodate 20 players. But again we ran short, as 24 kids came out!

During our third meeting - Thursday, November 09, 2006 we had a combined total of 32 Chess Club Members from all three division in attendance! Wow!

Thanks to Mr. Webbe, we were better organized. The Primary kids played first, and then some left for recess, and were replaced by the Junior/Intermediate kids. So, everyone got a chance to play. I'll just mention a few kids. In Week 1, Coral was a big help setting up the boards at the start of the lunch period. Everything goes much smoother and faster when the kids pitch in and help with setup. It's also important to help clean up at the end. If everyone sets up their board, then I know there are no missing pieces, and I can put the sets away. As Ted says, imagine if everyone always cleaned up after themselves ... Among the older kids, Kabeer is the whiz kid. He plays fast and he plays well. He even came close to beating me. This is a frequent goal of the kids, many of whom love to challenge me. No one at The Waterfront School has beaten me yet, but kids at other schools have. I'll know I'm teaching them well when I see the kids confident enough to challenge me, and skilled enough to beat me.

If a child has a chance to play chess during the week betweeen chess classes, then encourage the child to play: with a classmate, friend, or relative.

Next Chess Club:
Thursday, November 17, 2006
Junior/ Intermediates (Grades 4 to 8) 12:05 pm to 12:35 pm

David Cohen
Chess Coach
The Waterfront School