The nostalgic 11th Nanganallur Modern School Chess Tournament (for School students) was held at Modern Senior Secondary School, Nanganallur who were also the sponsors of the same, from 3rd to 6th August 2018.
A memorable one that will stay in the hearts of the students for a long time to come thanks to the hospitality and the prize money.
Golden Chess Centre would like to thank the School for conducting the tournament in a smooth manner going all out in achieving a flawless tournament thanks to the teachers and staff. Another kind gesture was the low Entry fees compared to many other similar tournaments.
About Chess Nanganallur:
Nanganallur is a temple town with myriads of temples dedicated to the Hindu divinity and the devout citizens are always eager for cultural activities in any manner. It is located in Chennai very near to Chennai Airport.
About Modern Senior Secondary School:
The School is showing great importance to Co-curricular and extracurricular activities. In particular, the School is giving special coaching in chess to the students, which has paid rich dividends.
The School is very proud of one of its alumni, K.Sasikiran, Grand Master and Arjuna Awardee in Chess.
Following his footsteps, the School has a host of eminent chess players like IM Saravanakrishnan, IWM Pon Krithika, Priya Sandhya, Radhakrishnan, Santhosh Bala, Narasimhapriyan, Mohanaprya, Anshuman K, Akash P. C Iyer, and many more. These players have made the school proud in many state level and national level CBSE tournaments.
It is in Modern Senior Secondary School that we see phenomenal support to students who are chess players and they also conduct many Chess tournaments annually.
The School’s connection with Chess:
The Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi has allotted to the School, the Southern Zonal Chess Tournaments in 2004 and 2006 under its Competitive Sports Programme. All India CBSE Chess Championship finals were conducted in the School in 2007.
With this background, the School has been conducting Modern Senior Secondary School International Rating Chess Tournament every year, starting from the year 2008. This is the first-ever InternationalRating Chess Championship at the School level.
The Total Prize Money in this tournament was Rs.1,50, 000/- This Chess Tournament was organized by Modern Senior Secondary School at Sankara Hall, Modern Senior Secondary School, AG’S colony, Nanganallur, Chennai-61.
This event was attended by 320 participants from various States out of which 130 players were FIDE rated players. Therefore many players gained massive ELO points and many unrated players had a chance to pit their skills against rated players.
As like every year this time too there were category prizes such as
Under 14 Boys and Girls
Under 12 Boys and Girls
Under 10 Boys and Girls
Under 8 Boys and Girls
Notable achievements of our Golden Chess Centre students
Srinivasan Vijayaraghavan from our Golden Chess centre Nanganallur academy achieved first place in Under 14 category.
Many students from Golden Chess Centre, have gained positive rating jumps to name a few – Laksanth, Harsanth, Ganesh. N, Srinivasan V, Venkatrama, and Nithish. They have joined our online chess classes for kids and are very energetic chess aficionados.
The Chess tournament’s Climax
After six rounds Gokulraj, Kishorekumar Jaganathan, Dhanush Ragav, Vignesh B, and Rathina Sabapathy were the top spot candidates.
In the seventh – penultimate round – Gokul Raj defeated Kishore Kumar in swashbuckling style to jump into sole lead with 7 points at the end of the seventh round.
In the final round battle, Gokulraj K of Velammal School drew Dhanush Raghav from Dindigul. Kishore Kumar to claim the first prize and Ratna Sabapathy who drew the game on the second board finished second place with a better Tie break score.
Winner Gokul Raj K gets a cash prize of Rs25000 and a Trophy. Rathina Sabapathy got second place and received an Rs18000 cash prize. Dhanush Ragav bagged third place and a cash prize of Rs12000.
If you’re seriously wanting to improve your chess game, you know how important it is to work on your flaws until they become strengths.
GCC plans tailor-made individual online chess classes for kids based on your tangible skillsets and acquired skills – training that will take you where you are aiming for tomorrow.
9th MODERN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CHESS TOURNAMENT 2016
Modern Senior Secondary School is a new generation CBSE SCHOOL situated at Nanganallur in Chennai.
They hosted the 9th MODERN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CHESS TOURNAMENT 2016 in a grand manner, under the Aegis of AICF, TNSCA, KDCA (AICF Event code: 137130/TN/2016 TNSCA Approval No. RO-04/KAN/16-17). The total prize pool for the tourney is Rs 1.20 lakh,
Nanganalluris known for its plethora of temples dedicated to the Hindu divinity and the place buzzes with a religious aura during festive occasions.
It is where Modern Senior Secondary School is situated that has always given phenomenal support to chess-playing students and Chess tournaments.
Apart from a robust scholastic endeavor, Modern School gives great impetus to Co-curricular and extracurricular activities.
The efforts are seen in its successful hosting of the 9th SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CHESS TOURNAMENT 2016 which speaks volumes about the seriousness and dedication to chess among its students.
This year, from 29th July to 3rd August 2016 they are conducting conducted the annual 9th MODERN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CHESS Tournament 2016 for school children and there was a huge response to the tournament as it is one of its kind as far as School tournaments go.
This year the tournament was a huge success as there were many rated players who took the opportunity to try their hand in claiming the first prize fund.
The winner received the cash prize of Rs 25,000 along with a trophy. The top 25 players got the respective prizes in the main list.
Totally around 341 players took part in the competition, which is a record itself!
There were also many category prizes such as
Under 14 Boys and Girls
Under 12 Boys and Girls
Under 10 Boys and Girls
Under 8 Boys and Girls
Modern Senior Secondary School is providing free lodging to all players, officials, arbiters and also sponsoring the entire prize money.
This event has attracted more than 300 participants from various States including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and also all districts of Tamilnadu.
Well-known local players took part – such as Hemanth Ram of Velammal School, Rajarshi Karthi of National School, Karmukilan of Modern School, Arputha Jasmine of Kanchi District are taking part in the 10-round Chess tournament.
International arbiter M Vijayakumar was the chief arbiter for the event.
The School is very proud of its alumni, K.Sasikiran, Grand Master and Arjuna Awardee in Chess who is ranked among the top 20 in the Indian Chess list of Grandmasters.
Following in his footsteps, the School has a host of eminent chess players like RK Ranjith,Anjana Sowjanya, Arun Hariharan,Saravana Krishnan, Santhosh Bala, Pon Krithikka, Mohanapriya, Radha Krishnan, Narasimhapriyan, V.Shvetha, T. Vishwanath, Akash PC Iyer, K. Anshuman, and many others have been inspired by the school’s motivation and its teachers’ interest in Chess.
This year’s event was honored by the presence of Chief Guest GM Adhiban who is an upcoming Chess Grandmaster bringing laurels to India at International events.
Seen below in the pic is the group photo of the MODERN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CHESS tournament’ participants on the dais with the VIPs on stage.
We only hope that they continue the good work and rise in stature in their field of Chess.
They will also serve as an inspiration for other schools to take up the sport of chess in right earnest.
Congratulations to the winner Rajarishi Karthi who scored 9 points out of 10 rounds!
Click here for the complete list of winners after the final round.
Congrats to the MODERN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL principal K Mohana, physical education director B Ramadoss and the entire team of the school who worked hard to make the event a huge success.
This is a beautiful Chess Puzzle of the day for Beginners and Parents who have learnt the piece movements in Chess. You may not know how to play chess like a Pro, but you will definitely be able to solve these puzzles. So no more excuses.
Open this page at your office* and ask your colleagues to solve this seemingly simple puzzle. Your friends will be stymied and who knows they may start getting a liking for chess!
Chess Puzzle of the day for Beginners and Parents – head banger!
Queen Mapping and Planning – mapping all pawn captures.
This puzzle involves the Queen. The Queen as you all know by now is able to move like a Rook and like a Bishop – that means along Ranks, Files and Diagonals.
Here the goal is to capture all the pawns in each move that the queen is undertaking.
The aim is to finish capturing all the pawns by the queen.
Spoiler: This one will be very addictive. Don’t tell me you were not warned – it is somewhat difficult if you are not focused!
The advantages of this solving these sort of mind bending puzzles are:
It helps students to plan better and logically.
improves their focus and nurtures their ability to understand theory.
Chess calls for several fairly complicated calculations over its 64-square board. This is a precursor to that.
It develops ‘reverse thinking’ abilities and visualizations, besides encouraging the students the importance of thinking ahead
Why Blitz Chess is addictive – Dopamine effect of Chess Blitz
Have you ever wondered Why Blitz Chess is addictive ? Especially online Blitz and Bullet time controls? Maybe Neuroscience has an answer and can explain why Blitz Chess is addictive as any online player will testify.
Our brain records all pleasure experiences, whether they are coming from a soothing music, a good book, a mind stimulant drug, a cash reward, a tasty meal, or playing blitz or bullet chess. Blitz chess is that form of chess wherein each player has to complete the game in a time control of maximum 30 minutes or minimum 5 minutes. Bullet Chess is even faster and has a time control of lesser than 5 minutes.
Technically speaking, in the brain, pleasure has a distinct place called Nucleus Accumbens. Pleasure sensations cause the brain to release the neurotransmitter Dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens, a group of nerve cells lying beneath the cerebral cortex . This is where the Dopamine release happens whenever we have a pleasurable experience.
Hence neuroscientists refer to the region as the brain’s pleasure center.
Most of the intoxicants such as the famous nicotine to the infamous heroin, and blitz chess (surprise surprise!) cause a particularly powerful release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.
Addictive drugs and Blitz Chess therefore provide a direct link to the brain’s reward system by providing the nucleus Accumbens with dopamine.
The Hippocampus creates memories of this rapid satisfaction dose, and the Amygdala creates a conditioned response to certain stimuli akin to the Pavlovian response.
So don’t be surprised when your mind craves for a blitz or two. It’s just asking for a good cup of coffee!
The effect increases manifold, the more you play – so Bullet chess is worse than Blitz because you get a dopamine dose every couple of minutes whereas a Blitz game usually lasts 10 or 20 minutes.
Suggestion: Play Blitz but don’t overdo it.
And don’t play Bullet too often either. Lest you may lose its educative aspect and get a high instead. Remember that too much of Bullet Chess or Blitz Chess may cause Adrenaline peaks that may not be good for everyone (may cause headaches for some).
Bullet doesn’t help much in understanding the strategic nuances of the game. But it helps building a pattern recognition base leading to better intuition, and to get a light feel of the opening. So all is not bad in the case of the Blitz Chess addiction.
After reading this article you will hopefully understand Why Blitz Chess is addictive and how to use it in moderation to help in your chess training.
The author Dr. C. P Jain is a psychologist and a chess aficionado. She lives in Jaipur and likes to play online occasionally when she finds time amidst 2 kids and family.
Willpower is the ability to resist short-term temptations to meet long-term goals.
Willpower allows us to ignore unwanted thoughts, feelings, or desires.
1. Commit to a goal at the outset.
Tightrope yourself with a shoestring so you cannot have a freeway with your temptations. Make sure that you are plugging all those temptation-pulls so that you are riding with your brakes released.
In other words, temptations and diversions are like a brake applied constantly while driving your car. Get the picture?
It won’t stop you completely, but it will make it increasingly difficult, to move away from your goals.
For example, buy a book instead of downloading it online. That way your conscience will not allow you to give it a pass. You will sit down to read it since you paid for it with your hard-earned cash.
Or carry only a fixed amount of cash when you’re on a tight rope budget, and leave your credit cards at home, preventing you from making ‘that impulsive purchase’.
in my experience, for example, a relative of mine felt she was going to the movies too frequently. To counter that, I told her to calculate all the money spent on the tickets and popcorn.
And when she saw that they amounted to a lot she stopped going to the movies that frequently.
By showing the total picture she saw the absurdity of her habits and now she is spending the saved money on useful books that are much needed to increase her expertise.
2. Meditate every day.
Preferably in the morning. It is one of the most difficult-to-start regimens, but once started it will help you so much that you begin to wonder – ‘what was I doing all these years without this essential habit’?
I know that it may seem like a waste of time which could have been spent reading the newspaper or going to sleep an extra 15 minutes but that is just your mind trying to avoid anything that tames it.
Read this tip from Headspace – a U.S. study found that people who meditated daily experienced improved willpower and focus. The researchers found that “those who practiced meditation on a daily basis persisted on tasks longer and made fewer task pullouts, as well as reducing negative feedback after task completion.”
So instead of reaching for your mobile phone or tablet, first thing in the morning and checking all your chats or messages, try spending 15 minutes meditating and reap the benefits of willpower training.
Although it looks simple, sitting still in a yogic posture like Padmasana or Sukhasana, and watching your thoughts in motion is difficult. But the benefits of meditating extend beyond the 15 minutes of quiet every morning. Meditating keeps the mind calm and focused.
3. Exercise regularly.
Cesar Milan training with a dog
If you watched Ceaser Milan’s ‘Dog Whisperer‘ where he documents his dog-training techniques (if you haven’t watched yet shame on you 🙂 ) you must have seen that he first removes all the negative pent up energy in a ferocious dog by taking him/her to a brisk walk or a run.
I remember how he even used one particular dog as a skateboard puller) and the dogs seemed to like it every bit.
After that, the dogs became calm and obedient after the exercise.
Now what transpired in this effort was that that run tamed all the energy overflow and the dog became submissive and calm after that exercise.
It’s the same with the human mind. A study in the Netherlands has revealed that a ‘quick’ workout correlated with better self-control, among other important benefits.
Going to the gym, not only strengthens your body muscles but also your willpower.
4. Get a good night’s sleep.
I use a fitness tracker that comes cheap at Amazon. It is called Mi Fit (or Mi Band in some countries). What it does is to measure your sleep pattern and tell you how much of deep sleep and light sleep you have had every night. This helps in determining what you are missing.
A deep sleep of more than 1 hour is recommended and if you are falling short try improving it.
A good night’s sleep* provides you, with the much-needed mental and physical energy to make it through the upcoming day’s events. If you miss out on your regular dosage of sleep, you’ll feel lethargic and your willpower would become weak. In fact, a lack of sleep can result in impaired reflex action speed and an inability to think clearly.
One study found that this fatigue-impaired state is equivalent to being drunk. So imagine what it can do to your chess!
“Proper rest improves our self-control power and provides a good environment for the brain to function,”
Ryan Clements writes. “Rest reduces the body’s need for glucose, and it allows the body to make a better use, of what we have.”
If you’re struggling to fall asleep, I suggest moving away from laptop/PC/Mobile screens and reading a paperback book. I do something different – I listen to some heavy meta-physical lectures that make me go to sleep in no time 🙂 But before doing anything make sure you are in bed and almost ready to doze off!
The light from these screens disturbs our body’s circadian rhythm, making our subconscious think, that it’s daytime when in reality, it is time for sleep.
*A good night’s rest normally means getting seven to eight hours of shut-eye for an adult.
Low glucose levels = weaker willpower. A study revealed that participants who were not fed or did not eat well before starting a project gave it up halfway, much earlier than their fully-fed compatriots.
“To keep (your willpower) high, eat regular meals having full of protein and good carbohydrates, like a sandwich of lean meat and cheese packed between two slices of whole-wheat bread,” Stephanie Booth writes in Real Simple. “And never start a challenging task on an empty stomach.”
Starting each morning with a hearty meal gives your willpower a much-needed boost. Small ideas help like the consumption of dry fruit snacks such as almonds, walnuts cashews, and yogurt, to sustain high-energy levels. Have them either one hour before or after your meals.
7. Read books on the mind and its secrets – (especially for parents of chess-playing children)
One of the most influential books about children ever published, Nurture Shock offers a radical perspective on children that tosses a library’s worth of conventional wisdom. Why are kids – even those from the best of homes – still undisciplined and aggressive? The answer is found in a rethinking of parental conflict, discipline, television’s unexpected influence, and social dominance.
The authors of Nurture Shock – Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman‘s New York Magazine articles on the science of children won the magazine journalism award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as the Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications. Their articles for Time Magazine won the award for outstanding journalism from the Council on Contemporary Families. Bronson has authored five books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller What Should I Do With My Life?
With that we come to the end of what we started with – 7 Willpower tips to Maximize winning chances in chess – here is hoping we get better with these techniques.
The author Anshuman Jain is a chess coach at Golden Chess Centre, Nanganallur, Chennai. He is available for Chess training and is an expert in Digital Chess classrooms and training techniques. When he is not teaching Chess he likes to learn computer languages.
And it has to do with a chemical called Dopamine.
