First time in BELIZE: Blind Fold Chess Tournament

Sept 26th, 2009 : 12 courageous chess players met for the exceptionally difficult tournament "Battle of the MINDS!".

All players played 3 rounds blindfold, which means that they were not allowed to look at the board while making their moves.

They had to visualize the board and keep track of the always changing positions after each move.
Players were calling out their moves and the Tournament Director was recording them on the notation paper and made those moves on the board, so that he could keep track of the game.
Players played round-robin in Quads format. Each Tournament director was assigned to monitor one board at a time.

The final winners from each of the quads are: Alfred Awe, Jamir Sanchez and Joshua Chiang.

Below are the names of the participants:

Stann Creek players: Gilbert Parham, Fitzroy Chan, Kris Sanchez,Rick Pascasio, Alfred Awe

West Cayo Players: Clifford Coleman, Jamir Sanchez

East Cayo:Akeem Jenkins, Joshua and Jeremy Chiang( he was the youngest player of the day- 8 years old!), Carlos Cocom and Richard Beane.

We started teaching kids to play blindfold during the summer camp, but we could not anticipate such remarkable results. Those players continued practicing at home with their coaches or parents.....and the most impressive thing happened, even the young players 8-9 years old were able to hold games for 28-30 moves! Believe me, you will want to witness such a battle of minds! You will have a chance to see one of the kids to play blindfold against and adult on the day of the Chess Symposium, Oct 10th, so do not miss your chance, register for the event at belizechess@cavesbranch.com

Special Thanks to the Tournament directors of the day : Brian Chun, Carlos Cocom Sr, Richard Beane Sr, Gabriel Baron, David Coombs and Ella Anderson.

First International Chess Cultural Event

1st Annual Mexico/Belize Goodwill Chess Tournament
The idea of the tournament was not simply to hold an international chess tournament, but to build goodwill between Belize and Mexican chess communities and to create respect and lasting friendships between the young chess players of both countries. The Mexican Team arrived on the 12th of June and spent their first night bonding with the Belizean team at Caves Branch Jungle Lodge. That night all the players were playing ball, swimming, making friendship bracelets and socializing with each other, there was no chess.

Coach from Corozal shows local orchids and plants in the botanical garden at Caves Branch to the Mexican team.

The following day, Saturday, all 23 players, their coaches and chaperons proceeded to the Mexican Embassy in Belmopan for the actual Tournament, hosted by Ambassador and Mrs. Lopez Marino and co sponsored by the Mexican Embassy and the BNYCF.

Tournament in progress: 5 rounds, game 25.

The best thing for us, coaches, is to see that our students show sportsmanship skills and know how to win, but MORE importantly, they know how to lose with dignity. Alfred Awe from Stann Creek lost a difficult game to his Mexican opponent, but you still can see him smiling as they shake hands.

Between the rounds you could see the Mexican coaches working hand in hand with our Belizean coaches on analyzing the games and helping players from both teams to improve their games.

Mexican players enjoyed very much all the puzzles and art activities between the rounds: making chess pieces out of clay
During the award ceremony Jouharra Jou from Orange Walk, captain of the Belizean team exchanged letters and drawing that the teams made for each other
Mexican Team at the Award Ceremony: Although all players from both teams played to the very last game of the five rounds, it was The Mexican Team that won the tournament. CONGRATULATIONS !
As is taught to all chess players in Belize, there are “winners and learners” and all the Belizean players certainly admitted to learning a great deal from the tournament and from the Mexican players who all proved to not only being top players but wonderful sportsman as well.
Belizean Team:

And both teams together wearing T-shirts that were presented to all the participants by the Mexican Embassy

After the tournament the Mexican Ambassador and his wife joined us for the cultural night, during which each team made a number of presentations of their cultures. Among the presentations there were skits, drumming, slide show, puppet show and special tastings of the local foods that Belizean team prepared to share with each participant.

The Mexican team responded with similar presentations and presented gifts to all the participants.

The culminating activity was going on the adventure trip into the caves to prove one more time that the real chess players must have not only good chess skills, but the stamina and energy and the adventure spirit.

Near the end of the trip, to the surprise of the Mexican team, they were challenged for one more game of chess deep inside the cave !
Real chess players can enjoy the game anywhere, including the caves!

A special thank you to Ambassador and Mrs. Lopez Marino for their hospitality at the Mexican Embassy and to the Caves Branch Jungle Lodge for providing all the accommodations, meals and hospitality to all the members of both teams for the three days.

And finally the buses took all the players back home. We made new friiends and looking forward to the next year event!

Below you can see the names of hte players on our National TEAM 2009!

Cayo:

Joshua Chiang

Richard Beane

Brent Coombs

Clifford Coleman

Jamir Sanchez( alternate)

Akeem Jenkins( alternate)

Stann Creek:

Alfred Awe

Fitzroy Chan

Kris Sanchez

Corozal:

Nayir Marin

Coleen Tate

Marco Liu

Toledo:

Silvano Pau

Orange Walk:

Jouharra Jou, Team Captain

Support group: Maricella and Carlos Cocom

Coaches: Jose Teul , Brian Chun, David Coombs, Humberto Juarez

Chess Olympiad 2009

Chess Olympiad 2009- First Rated Chess Event in Belize

Congratulations to all the participants and their coaches and countless number of volunteers who made this event such a success!

Olympiad is over and we are looking now towards next year event. At the Olympiad there were 120 players present, from all the districts of Belize: 100 players who competed and 20 kids who were alternates and therefore were there to support their teammates. All the players including alternates were rated players, who received their first rating at the district tournaments this year. Rating is an internationally accepted system of estimate of the strength of the player, based on his performance versus other players. As the result of the Olympiad, we are ready to announce the highest rated players in Belize:

8 and Younger: Gabriel Cocom, Cayo

9 and 10 years old: Joshua Chiang, Cayo

11 and 12 years old: Nayir Marin, Corozal

13 and 14 years old: Alfred Awe, Stann Creek

15 and older: Wayne Huang, Cayo

The youngest player at the Olympiad was Gabriel Cocom, only 6 years old, and the oldest was 18 year old and all players regardless of their age showed skill and ability to concentrate while making decisions on the best course of action in the game.

In the spirit of the BNCYF events, there was a medieval castle in place, and his Majesty King Arnold and Her Majesty Chess Queen Evita present. Upon entering the Tournament Hall, all the team captains were greeted by the Royal Chess Dignitaries: Honorable Simeon Lopez, Mayor of Belmopan, Deborah Sewell, GM At BNE Charitable Trust, Luis Manuel Lopez, Ambassador of Mexico to Belize, Honorable Ramon Witz, South Cayo Area Representative.

This was the first in Belize official rated tournament. The tournament rules and the rating system was approved by BNYCF as well by Belize Chess Federation and was implemented at all the district tournaments within last few month, where the selection of the players was made.

All the district tournament had a purpose of learning experience of playing according to the tournament rules, proper use of chess clocks and notation( writing down moves of the game). At the Olympiad all players 11 years and older were required to notate 2 rounds. Notation is extremely important skill for the development of the chess players: ability to notate makes them chess literate and therefore gives them access to the games of the famous chess players for studying, as well as analyzing their own games and learning from their mistakes.

Below you will see the pictures from the tournament and we hope that you will get an idea that it was not only about winning- it was about creativity, pride in their own team, sportsmanship and of course fun! Enjoy the pictures and we hope to see you at other chess events!

This was the most feared team -from Stann Creek- they entered the Hall proudly carrying the Traveling Trophy from last year:

We wish you could see the performance of Stann Creek: not only exceptional banners, but also masks and their own selection of music for the entry.
As a coach, I have to be honest with you, I believe that Stann Creek sets up new standards every year with their creativity and chess skills.They were truly Knightmares of all the coaches. We all were so impressed last year by their performance, that we all worked extra hard in an attempt to be able to match their level. Stann Creek leads us again to the new levels of creativity.


Toledo's visual aids were used as part of decorations of the olympiad hall, and their banners were matching the skills of stann creek players:



Another amazing quality banner carried by the most accomplished HS chess Player: Wayne Huang
Alternates proudly entered the hall together with their teams:
Best Visual Aids at District events Award

Toledo Chess Association
Best Team Presentation Award
Stann Creek Chess Association

Sportsmanship AWARD

Section 8 and under: Miki Yanai, Royal Infantry Team, Belize district
Section 9&10 years old: Carissa Sabido, Royal Advisors, Belize
Section 11&12 years old:Rajel Villafranco, Princess Pawns, Stann Creek
Section 13&14 years old: Luis Tut, U-Knighted, Stann Creek
Section 15 and over: Ian Avilez, Supreme Pawns, Stann Creek

The Longest Game Award

Section 8 and under: Youngmin Gomez, Belize vs Christopher Perez, Corozal, 44 mins game!
Section 9&10 years old: Richard Beane, Cayo vs Irene Perez, CorozalSection 11&12 years old:Leyma Coc, Toledo vs Shelmadine Pop, Stann Creek, 55 mins game
Section 13&14 years old: Adrian McLaughin, Belize vs Lucienne Bacab, Cayo, 53 min game
Section 15 and over: Glenford Pop, Cayou vs Jose Tobar, Belize, 58 mins game

Overall Winning Teams

First Place: Knights of Cayo, 17.5 points. Players from Bishop Martin and GPC( George Price Center)
Second Place: Bishops of Cayo, 15.5 points,players from St. Barnabas and Bishop Martin schools
Third Place: Supereme Pawns, Players from Stann Creek Ecumenical HS

Traveling Trophy for the 1st place Team went to Knights of Cayo:
Individual Awards
8 and under:

1st place: Jeremy Chiang, Bishops of Cayo, GPC
2nd place: Gabriel Cocom, Knights of Cayo, GPC
3rd place: Jovel Chiac, Blazing Bishops, Maya Mopan, Stann Creek
4th place: Kiederre Loria, Chess Vipers, San Narciso, Corozal
5th place: Jaheed Palacio, Rooks of Cayo, GPC
6thplace: Damian Andrews, U-Knighted, Solid Rook, Stann Creek

9 and 10 years old:

1st place: Joshua Chiang, Knights of Cayo, GPC
2nd place: Ricahrd Beane, Bishops of Cayo, GPC
3rd place: Brent Coombs, Bishops of Cayo, Bishop Martin
4th place: Ivan Pixabaj, Blazing Bishops, Silk Grass, Stann Creek
5th place: Juan Coy, Knights of South Toledo, Crique Sarco
6thplace: Lloyd Augustine, U-Knighted, Sacred Heart, Stann Creek

11 and 12 years old:

1st place: Nayir Marin, Chess Vipers, San Narciso, Corozal
2nd place: Silvano Pau, Knights of South Toledo, Little Flower School
3rd place: Kris Sanchez, Knightmares, Holy Angels, Stann Creek
4th place: MArco Lui, Checkmaters, St Francis Xavier, Corozal
5th place: Jamir Sanchez, Knights of Cayo, Bishop Martin
6thplace: Cezar Gonzales, Rooks of Cayo, St Barnabas

13 and 14 years old:

1st place: Alfred Awe, Supreme Pawns, Ecumenical HS, Stann Creek
2nd place: Fitzroy Chan, Knightmares, Holy Angels, Stann Creek
3rd place: Jouharra Jou, Muffles College, Orange Walk
4th place: Clifford Coleman, Rooks of Cayo, Ontario
5th place: Akeem Jenkins, Knights of Cayo, GPC
6thplace: Gilbert Parham, Knightmares, Holy Angels, Stann Creek

15 years and older:

1st place: Wayne Huang, Crazy Chess Club, BCS, Cayo
2nd place: Triston, Guzman, Supreme Pawns, Ecumenical HS, Stann Creek
3rd place: Huei-Neng He, Crazy Chess Club, BCS, Cayo
4th place: Ian Avilez, Supreme Pawns, Ecumenical HS, Stann Creek
5th place: Juan Vernon, Royal Elephants, Youth for Peace club, Belize
6thplace: Nicasio Sam, Knights of South Toledo, Indian Creek, Toledo

Best Female Players

Section 8 and under: Miki Yanai, Royal Infantry Team, Belize district
Section 9&10 years old: Kennia Francisco, Princess Pawns, Stann Creek
Section 11&12 years old:Carisa Thomas, Corozal Chess Stars, Corozal
Section 13&14 years old: Jouharra Joy, Muffles College, Orange Walk
Section 15 and over: Teresita Pau, Toledo Supareem Queens, Toledo

First BNYCF certified Chess Coaches:

David Martinez, Belize District
Brian Chun, Stann Creek
Jose Teul, Toledo
David Coombs, Cayo

In order to become certified coaches they had to attend series of training sessions, as well as pass practical and theory chess examination and to demonstrate their ability to not only know chess rules, but ability to convey that knowledge to others.

Chess Personalities of the Year Awards:
Toledo:
Adinaldo Requena
Rudolfo Shal
Stann Creek:
Debbie Chun
Brian Chun
Corozal:
Humberto Sanchez
Reymur Ake
Cayo:
Anita Azueta
Carlos Lotiff
Belize:
Mrs. May
David Martinez

Chess Principal of the Year Award

Toledo:
Evagrio Bol, San Vicente School
Stann Creek:
Francis Humphreys, Ecumenical High School
Corozal:
Gilberto Perez, San Narciso School
Cayo:
Joyce Shaw, St Barnabas Anglican
Belize:
Mrs Torrez, St Joseph SchoolThe pictures below will make you a believer of chess as an educational and motivational tool: see the concentration on the faces of all the players, thinking about their moves. Ability to concentrate at one particular task and not get distracted until they finish the game, is definitely something that all of us, educators, want to develop in our childred. Chess does it!

Seeing this girl, Betty Bul from Toledo, who had experience last year to play US women Champion Jennifer Shahade at the simul, reminded me of the conversation that Jennifer had with the girls at the summer camp. She said that when she was young and just started competing, she was not doing too well at the tournaments, until she found the way not only to try her best at playing, but also enjoying it, having fun after the tournaments were over. Jennifer told the girls that she believes that enjoying being at the tournaments, and have fun after the games are over is very important. Well learned lesson, see for yourself:

Art section was very popular as well as the puzzles section

Cayo team :


Skittles area or practice area, where Richard Beane and other coaches were providing mini lessons between the games. Of course those coaches were hoping that their teams would win the tournament, but it didn't stop them from doing an excellent job as Skittles area directors- they worked on improving skills of players from all teams.






Play offs for the 1st place in the 13&14 years old section:

Next Chess Olympiad

Saturday, April 25, 2009, UB Gym, Belmopan
5 Rounds, G/25 (each round is 50 mins), except round 3 and 4, when notation will be required for all the participants 11 years and older, and those 2 rounds will be G/30(each round is 1 hour).
See some of the districts Olympic teams that will face each other to compete for the individual prizes, team prizes, sportsmanship and puzzles awards. Each district is coming with the support team of alternate players, coaches and parents.

Cayo Olympic Team:

Belize district Olympic team:

Toledo Olympic teamTo see the pictures from the district tournaments please visit the individual district pages from the Current events page.

First Chess Olympiad: May 3, 2008

As the doors swung open wide, the Great Medieval Hall presented itself to the children, including a 36 foot wide by 14 foot high castle front, 8 foot chess banners and colorful flags strewn around the Hall. As each team entered the great hall they were presented with their own colorful 8 foot high team banner to carry out in front of each team as they marched down the centre isle to the marching sounds of “We Will Rock You” by the band ‘Queen’ and escorted by fully dressed knights...... to present themselves to the King and Queen of the Belize Chess Kingdom who in turn presented each player with a chess medallion as a welcome gift to the competition. For over 20 minutes, the applauding of the spectators, music and drumming continued as each team, one after another, entered the Great Hall.

OF course, the participants had no idea what it takes to create an event like this, but their joy, their excitement made all those efforts worth for us. So who are the people who made it happen?

The Chess Olympiad itself took over 700 man hours of volunteer service to prepare and run the event. But its volunteers like the entire staff of the Caves Branch Jungle Lodge who spent two months preparing for the event, community volunteers who assisted in the set up and running of the event, local business persons who donated products for the event, BDF who provided tents and chairs, the list is endless of the total number of people who assisted in the success of the event. See below our accounting, marketing, reservations staff working on creating outfits,

..guides, using their climbing skills to hang the banners...
and make it look like this:

Pleasant surprise: Kids were excited to see Minister Marin attending the event and accepting a challenge from Corozal team to play one of their students.

Participants:
Interest in participation was so high from all the districts that we had to limit each school to bring only 4 kids per team. As the result we had 36 teams from all over the country, total 144 primary students competing in this first BELIZE CHESS OLYMPIAD.

10 teams from Toledo

9 teams from Stann Creek

7 teams from Corozal + 1 kid from Orange Walk

5 teams from Cayo

3 teams from Belize City

1 Girls only team: players from Cayo and Toledo

As you can imagine this event was made possbile by the combined effort of all the volunteers, coaches, BDF, students. To show you how truly nation wide those efforts were, take a look at the Tournament Directors List:
Sgt Artemio Sho, Col Omar Pulido – BDF
Bruno Kuppinger, Michael Manley - Toledo
Emil Arguelles, Carlo Arguelles- Belize
Adilson Rosales, Waine Huang – Cayo
Arturo and Emil Montero- Stann Creek

Puzzle Directors: Debbie Chun, Stann Creek and Melonie Eck, Cayo
Computer Tournament Directors: Gabriel Baron : HS student, BCA and Frank Tu: UB college Student
Building, installation, supporting team: Entire Caves Branch Staff
UB Volunteers: Abel Henriquez, Steven Sho, Myra Verde, Sandino Mendoza, Ariadne Pech. Yahayra Coba
Business Support: Cardinals Belmopan, Belize Mills, Brodies, Bowen & Bowen, Evan Casey, Toucan Industries, Old Belize, BDF, Wood Depot Belmpan, Abe Dyck, Caribbean Chicken and UB.
Financial Supporters: Ms. Steffi Lupp, Providence Bank, Caves Branch Jungle lodge staff donations.

Final Results

Puzzles

Overall 1^st place: Alfred Awe from St. Matthews team, Stann Creek
Overall 2^nd place: Darwin Ramos, Fantastic Four team from George Price Center, Cayo
Overall 3^rd place: Edwardo Chen, Hope Creek team, Stann Creek

Sportsmanship

Section 10 and under: Alyssa Wong, St. Joseph, Belize, Coach: David Martinez

Section 11: Akeem Jenkins, United Evergreen, Cayo, Coach: Ella Anderson

Section 12: Vidal Adolphus, St. Barnabas Anglican, Cayo, Coach: David Coombs
Section 13 and older: Gilbert Parham, Holy Angels, Stann Creek, Coaches: Cornelius Caetano and Brian Chun

Three Overall winning teams and their coaches

1^st place team was shared between 2 teams: Indian Creek, Toledo , Coach: Benjamin Tuario and Holy Angels, Stann Creek, Coach: Cornelius Cayetano and Brian Chun2^nd place team: Salvation Army, Belize , Coach: David Martinez
3^rd place team: St. Francis Xavier R.C, Coach Virgilio Ruiz

Best Female players

Section 10 and under: Ashley Jeffries, Christ the King, Stann Creek

Section 11: Gabriela Ugarte, St. Francis Xavier, Corozal

Section 12: Betty Bull, played for Super Queens Team( combines Cayo and Toledo), Toledo

Section 13 and older: Colleen Tate, Sacred Heart, Stann Creek

Individual winners

10 and under:

1^st place: Luis Acosta, Salvation Army, Belize

2^nd place: Sahjir Pech, Corozal Knights, Corozal

3^rd place: Dominic O’Brian, St. Barnabas Anglican, Cayo

11:

1^st place: Kris Sanchez, Holy Angels, Stann Creek
2^nd place: Jamil Coleman, Little Flower, Toledo
3^rd place: Deraun Hererra, Christ the King Anglican, Stann Creek

12:

1^st place: Ishim Gavino, San Francisco de Geronimo, Toledo
2^nd place: Manuel Choc, Inidan Creek, Toledo
3^rd place: Betty Bull, played for Super Queens team (combined girls from Toledo and Cayo), San Francisco de Geronomo Team, Toledo

13 and older:

1^st place: Rick Pascascio, Holy Angels, Stann Creek
2^nd place: Benedicto Coc, played for Corozal Knights Team, but he is from San Francisco de Geronimo, Toledo
3^rd place: Colleen Tate, Sacred Heart, Stann Creek

Awards

For kids: Prizes included medals, trophies and invitations to Sibun Chess Camp, Aug 1-5th, for all individual winners and 4 winning teams and their coaches.

For coaches: complimentary stay and adventure trips at Caves Branch Jungle Lodge, books by Josh Waitzkin "The Art of Learning" and "Attacking Chess", as well as Medals and certificates that were presented to each coach by King Arnold during the Knighting Ceremony.

Recognition is always so important, not only with the children, but also how to recognize adults in an all children organization, in a way that will be meaningful to the adults as well as understood by the children. So with the theme of the day being medieval chess, all the coaches were called up to the stage centre and King Arnold, with the coaches on one knee and a sword in hand, tapped them on the shoulder, “Knighted” all the coaches. With a “gold guilded” Knights medal and a certificate with the Kings signature, all 42 coaches were now “SIR” Chess Coach.

These coaches of the attending teams are: David Martinez, Ariadne Pech, David Coombs, Ricardo Bailey, Frank Tu, Richard Beane, Raymur Ake, Gilberto Perez, Rosana Ake, Nelvio Ek, Virgilio Ruiz, Yadira Montejo, Yahayra Coba, Albert Nunez, Cornelius Cayetano, Brian Chun, Kelvin Baizer, Mikhail Cabral, Kimberly Thompson, Lenox Flores, Micah Williams, Mr. Mariano, Todd Murdock, Roberto Coc, Ericka Jang, Benjamin Tuario, Desiderius Bol, Domingo Salam, Elra Alvarez, Artemon Sho, Gilberto Pop, Jose Teul, Liz Ferris, Carmelo Perez, Rob Magee, Rigoberto Choco, Rodolfo Shal

Stann Creek and Toledo districts are leading the way in teams and youth players due to the local district chess association started by volunteers in Stann Creek and in Toledo by the involvement of the BDF and Jose Teul, former Sports Council Coordinator. Belize, Cayo and Corozal had good participation and seeing the enthusiasm of their chess coaches during the tournament, its only a matter of time before those districts catch up to Toledo and Stann Creek.

Reflection on the event

Our objectives for the Chess Olympiad were met:

- to provide the opportunity for the primary school students to meet players from all districts and realize that they are now part of the truly National “Chess Family”

- bring more public awareness to the fact that chess is an excellent motivational tool that helps to engage children in meaningful and intellectually stimulating activity that provides them with skills that will make them better students, socially and academically

- acknowledge and reward school teachers and community members who volunteer their time to learn the game, organize and run the after school clubs

- give recognition to the district sports coordinators who actively embraced chess as one of the sports activities

- provide opportunities for coaches from remote villages of the country to meet other coaches and learn from each other

- encourage all the participating volunteers to continue their work through the remainder of the school year and through the summer and get the kids off the streets!

What the coaches think.....

“This was a tremendous experience for all of us. We teach the children that if you don’t win a game, you are not a loser, but you learn and would hope that in all aspects and all walks of life we would be taught that way.”

What the spectators think.....

I was also very impressed with how ALL the kids acted when I was there. It is very evident that chess does instill values in the players.

What the kids think...

1) what was the most exciting part of the event for you?

The award ceremony was the best part because we got to see the best chess players and got to see amazing awards.

The most exciting part for me was the challenges that I faced during the Olympiad.

My most exciting part in the event was playing new players and taking part in the Belize first chess Olympiad.

The most exciting part of the event form is meet other people and play different people.

I really enjoyed having our Team Name be announced in front of the audience. Also me and my team walking down the great hall and meeting the “King” and the “Queen”. I really like these things besides of course playing CHESS!!!!

2) How do you feel when you win a chess game?

I feel relaxed and like a champion. I feel good in a way that I am the best.

I felt like a champion with a crown, a throne, a cape, a kingdom. I felt like King for that game.

3) How do you feel when you lose a game?

I feel sad, but I learn from my mistakes.

I still feel good because at least I tired to win plus I faced a worthy opponent. I feel revived , and I know that even though I lost this one, I might win the next one.

I feel sad, like I just lost $5,000,000.00

I felt like a loser, a poor person who picked wrong choices for that game.

I would not say it’s my favorite feeling in the world but I learn something new every time I lose and every time I win.