Checkmate…or in short..mate… means…the game is over! You don’t capture the King… the King is in such a position that he can’t move… like some children would say…”he’s stuck”…. The ultimate goal in chess is to checkmate the King…Read HERE more about checkmate!
See MORE WAYS here…
And… HERE’S even more checkmate positions!
Enjoy this poem! one of my favourites since High School!
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…”
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, — I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! — and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Chessalee 
Hi there – I’m the Sales Director of Holloid Plastics – the company that is giving the 250k chess sets to UK schools – I really hope that this initiative will result in an increased uptake in the playing of the game in British schools.
By involving the English chess academies in the project, all under the aegis of the ECF we hope to ensure that the sets don’t just end up gathering dust in a cupboard…
I’d be delighted to hear how the SA educational authorities encouraged this??
best wishes
Fergus
Hi Fergus
Thanks for your visit to my blog, I do hope too that these sets won’t end up in those cupboards… my experience in London schools towards chess isn’t very positive… I would like to see schools getting involved…I think it’s because most people at schools don’t know how to play the game…and don’t want to take up extra responsibilities…as time is little too…
About your question……I was involved for 9 years coaching chess at my last school in SA… I can write you a book if I have to start about it.. I emailed Charles Wood…haven’t got any reply back yet..and told him I would like to get involved in this project…if possible….. perhaps if you ask him to forward my email to you, I can tell you more…
Regards
Nikita
A lovely poem, and an interesting post!
Hi Kop.. glad you enjoyed the poem… always my nr1… 😉
Ek het jou opskrif as romanties gesien…toe sien ek dit gaan oor skaak! 😉
Hi Bib… LOL! Uitgevang!! 😉
That was indeed some beautiful verse, Nikita. May I add some more to your collection?
A South African friend and correspondence chess opponent, nearing his demise, recently sent me the famous quote:
“Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall
And by the doom of death end woes and all.”
How could I reply? With apologies to Bill the Bard, I offered this:
“Nay, I do not with joy your fall procure,
For fear that future jousts might not arise –
Sad that would be, for how to cross earth’s span
But through the avenue that chess provides,
I am at loss to gauge.”
That is what I feel about chess.
Hi Tony… Welcome here! Thank you!! Great poetry there! I googled last night “chess in stories/books/poetry/etc..” want to do a post about it.. 😉
Thank you for that, Nikita!
I am also thrilled to see Mr Christie’s post on this thread.
It gives me an opportunity to thank this gentleman directly for the fantastic initiative he has created towards the future of chess in this country.
Speaking as one who runs a number of chess initiatives in the South Midlands, including a Youth Chess Academy, I am greatly inspired by his example.
Thank you, Mr Christie.
Hi Tony…
Pleasure..I will copy your message at the other post too.. 😉
Earlier in this thread, Mr Christie of Holloid Plastics posed a key question: “I’d be delighted to hear how the SA educational authorities encouraged this??”
Mr Christie, I have had close ties with South Africans, including family connections, since the 1990s.
Your question has, in my view, a simple answer.
1 The schools themselves welcome such initiatives. At the local level they have sufficient autonomy to be able to encourage chess by building this recognised sport into a school’s regular activities. Parents and chess players from the surrounding community are not hindered from becoming actively involved together.
2 So in this sense the SA educational authorities encourage chess simply by not “getting in the way” – chess is recognised as a natural, wholesome part of any school’s curriculum.
3 Finding equipment is a further plus, but not in my view the key driver.
4 At the wider level, junior chess in SA is undergoing organisational restructuring. I could not speak about that.
Last year I was given a supply of free chess equipment from another generous UK supplier like yourself. I tried to offer this equipment to local schools together with help in teaching chess to children in those schools. As events transpired, these sets did not end up in local schools. In my view they now serve the whole community, and particularly the children, in a far more effective way. Mr Christie, should you be interested I would happily tell you more.
Hi All
The best person in South Africa to contact and to ask more about chess in SA-schools..is Elise Steenkamp… here is her
site and you can contact her..
http://www.centurionchessclub.co.za/dnn/
I know her in person and she is the MOST wonderful person to work with! She’s a GREAT/HUGE chess enthusiast and has got her own chess shop too… http://chessconnection.wordpress.com
She’s a coach too and knows really more than any person I know of!! If you need help/ideas…etc…PLEASE contact her!! She’s involved in Chess SA for YEARS!! even before I started my chess club in SA at my school. She helped me on the day of the tournament at my last school and her son is also a great chess player.. they are basically a chess family! You will NOT go wrong if you contact her!
Good luck!
Another love poem
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