Best of CLO 2012 #6- Skywalk to Chess
January 29, 2013
nickme.jpg
Melinda with her son Nicky at the 2011 Denker tournament of high school champs in Orlando
The #6 article in Best of CLO 2012 is Skywalk to Chess: The National High School Champs by Melinda J. Matthews. Judges enjoyed the richly detailed account from a chess parent on the 2012 High School Nationals, held in Minneapolis. Melinda also volunteers at many of the scholastic tournaments where she brings her son Nicky Rosenthal, adding another key perspective to CLO.

Melinda's latest piece for CLO about the K-12 Championships in Orlando was a happy tale of victory in the 11th grade section by her son Nicky: "From start to finish, the tournament flowed as though destiny was lending a hand, channeling Nicky’s focus and determination toward (dare I say it?) the perfect Disney-inspired happy ending. " In another popular piece, Melinda wrote about the 2011 US Open and Denker tournament of high school champions in Orlando.

Melinda is
an urban planner and a certified, registered yoga teacher.  She brings yoga to under-served populations in her work with Yoga Gangsters, for at-risk and traumatized youth, and Connected Warriors, which offers free yoga to veterans. She plans a future article for CLO on the connections between chess and yoga.
 

Find details on this year's High School Nationals set for Nashville, April 5-7 on the official SuperNationals V page.

The Judges Sound Off
Read more about the judges  

The Nationals adventures for one Mom and Son team continued yet another year.  All parents can pick up valuable perspective from stories shared by a veteran Chess Mom in her poignant and occasionally amusing writings.  Through ups and downs, we sometimes need a reminder of the many "skill sets" that a young chess player develops: "focus, creativity, extraordinary strategic thinking, sportsmanship, how to shake off a devastating loss."  Thanks Mom! --Michael Aigner 
 
A bit long, but an interesting insight of a chess parent who sees more at the tournament than simply chess. She sees how chess has help her son develop in other ways and perhaps… she is deriving as much pleasure from being a chess parent as her son is playing chess.-- Daaim Shabazz

- I enjoyed this tournament report. I liked the perspective from the "Chess Mom", especially. It was really nice to see the point of view from one of the people who rarely gets the credit they deserve-Tim Brennan 

Another excellent article with pictures from the event and from the city itself. This was very well written and was fun to read as well as instructive.  I thought I got a feel for what it was like to be at the event. -GM Ben Finegold 


Best of CLO 2012 Countdown
#5- ???
#6-Skywalk to Chess: The National High School Champs by Melinda J. Matthews
#7- London Chess Classic: Mate in 196 by Daniel Parmet (Read the judging article)
#8- "Nakamura Defeats Fischer’s Record in Istanbul" by FM Mike Klein (Read the judging article)
#9- Sam Loyd’s Organ Pipes and Benko’s 45th Anniversary by Dr. Steven Dowd (Read the judging article here.) 
#10- Greg on Chess: Opening Books by IM Greg Shahade (Read the judging article here)