WELCOME TO THE SANTAN STORM CHESS BLOG!

Hello Parents and chess club members! Welcome to your newest chess resource the "SANTAN ELEMENTARY CHESS CLUB" CHESS BLOG!

This will be a source for additional chess lessons and for chess fun for those members of the chess club who want more chess - above and beyond what is on offer within the confines of our weekly meetings. I will post chess puzzles, chess games, tips on how to play chess and information on the local chess scene for all members of the Santan Storm Chess Community to make use of and for all to enjoy.

The first meeting of our club is scheduled to be on the 3rd of February and we shall meet until the 19th of May for this year - 2010. I look forward to seeing the familiar friendly faces of those returning to the club and I look forward to meeting the new members who will be joining our community. My commitment to each and every Parent who signs their youngster up for chess club is that no matter how much time they or their loved one has for chess that the emphasis will always be on having fun with chess while learning to play even better - with whatever time we have available.

Of course the Santan Storm is one of the largest - and strongest - chess clubs around. During last Semester our tournament team did extremely well at the local ASCF Chess Tournaments. We have a lot of talent at the Santan Elementary Chess Club and it is because of how much each member enjoys chess that our tournament team did so very extremely well. All members can take pride in how well our club did at tournaments - even if some members were unable to attend these chess events. I understand that with multiple commitments to juggle and with time always being tight when it comes to scheduling multiple events for multiple family members that not all of my chess students can commit to a tournament. Of course if we do have the time and if we can make the time then we should at least try one or two tournaments - this will enhance the player's enjoyment of chess as well as teaching them the valuable lessons to be learned while competing with a team. The extra time spent at the board will allow them to take their game up another level - as I have seen time and time again in my experience as a chess trainer and chess coach.

For those of you who are new to chess and have signed up your youngster(s) for their very first experiences with chess in our chess club then I do have a message for you: Let us pick up a chess board and some chessmen for our young players! ASAP! They will want to play after their first day of chess club and in order for them to cement their understanding of chess and not to fall behind the other members of the chess club then they will need a set with which to practice. It is like picking up a musical instrument - we cannot play a violin or a piano if we never practice on one. Our young chess players should always have access to a chess set. If you do not know where to pick one up then I will be more than glad to assist you in locating where you can pick up an inexpensive set. If you - their Parent - need help picking up the game then do not worry as I am your Chess Coach too! I will email you the rules of the game in a PDF and if you tune into this blog on a regular basis then you will not be able to help but to learn how to play chess!

Welcome and enjoy the first two postings down below! - Coach Sean Tobin.