Coach Emile

Editor's note: guest writer Coach Astrid wrote the following piece about the first-ever Ladies (K)Night - enjoy! Two years ago, we set out with a mission to build a more inclusive, vibrant space for girls in chess. What a journey it already has been. From launching our exclusive girls-only classes and organizing an international online match with our friends in Shanghai, to hosting our very own girls festival in Discovery Bay. Our girls-only teams swept board medals and finished fourth in a...

Both C/D and A/B were fully booked. Many EOM regulars were joined by some of our new students from both our centers and our schools. We were ready for a fun afternoon of competitive chess with a great atmosphere and that's exactly what we got! C/D As always, we start with the C/D group. We can find our Step 1 and Step 2 students who are finding their way to competitive chess here. Avoiding falling Scholar's Mate lookalikes (we don't allow the actual Scholar's Mate!), sidestepping checks (two...

There are a couple of tournaments on the chess calendar that people usually look forward to. The Candidates Tournament in which the Challenger for the World Championship gets decided and the World Championship itself are the front runners. But also tournaments where we know the excitement and drama will be high are highly popular among chess enthusiasts. The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships in December are an absolute must to follow. The Tata Steel tournament held in small Wijk Aan...