A Better Place to Wait in Dallas
By Dr. Alexey Root, WIM   
November 2, 2011
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WIM Dr. Alexey Root
During the National K-12 Championships in Dallas, many adults will wait in the Hilton Anatole atrium for children to finish their rounds. I have a better place for you to wait. Halfway between the younger children’s playing rooms and the older children’s, in the De Soto and De La Salle rooms, will be the Second Koltanowski International Conference on Chess and Education. When your students or children finish their games, have them meet you there. University of Texas at Dallas chess team members, including GM Julio Sadorra and GM Cristian Chirila, will analyze their chess games for free in front of the De La Salle room.

For $50 per day (Friday, November 18, or Saturday, November 19), you gain admission to the De Soto and De La Salle conference rooms. As a conference participant, you will enjoy food, books, and presenters’ talks. The De La Salle room will have complimentary refreshments for participants. Breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m. Snack breaks are at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Conference participants also receive two free books: Chess and Education: Selected Essays from the Koltanowski Conference (2006), edited by Tim Redman; and your choice of one of my books:
·    The Living Chess Game: Fine Arts Activities for Kids 9-14 (2011)
·    People, Places, Checkmates: Teaching Social Studies with Chess (2010)
·    Read, Write, Checkmate: Enrich Literacy with Chess Activities (2009)
·    Science, Math, Checkmate: 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving (2008)
·    Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators (2006)
Participants who attend Leah Martin Dagher's presentation on Friday, November 18, receive one copy of her book Classroom Chess: A Primary Teacher's Handbook (2010). You will also receive a complimentary UT Dallas Chess Program tote bag, giving you a convenient place to store your free books.

In addition to the presenters highlighted previously in the Chess Life Online article, some of the other 29 presenters include:
·    Alex Vergilesov, of the Saint Louis Chess Club, on the Boy Scouts of America Chess merit badge;
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Teresa Parr
·    Teresa Parr, Ph.D., on a $1,049,094 grant to research how chess might help with executive control and, also, with academic achievement: She is part of the grant’s research team;
·    Robert McLellan and John Galvin, on Brooklyn Castle, a documentary film about I.S. 318 and its chess and academic successes;
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Margaret Murphy
·    Margaret Murphy, President of the United States Virgin Islands Chess Federation since 1995, on educating students and teachers in chess simultaneously.
Learn more about the conference, and register for it online, at www.utdallas.edu/chess/kolty2

WIM Alexey Root, Ph.D., is Associate Chair of the Second Koltanowski International Conference on Chess and Education. Bookmark the K-12 website for info on the tournament as it progresses.