Date: Fri, 24 August 2007 Subject: fpawn's newsletter Summer (August) 2007 Hello chess students, parents and friends! *** New teaching schedule starts now! http://www.fpawn.com/chess/schedule.htm *** Welcome to my chess newsletter once again. It has been a long time. Normally I send out a new issue each monthly, but I have been lazy this summer. This is actually my first newsletter since the US Championship in May, although I have sent out smaller updates on occassion this summer. First of all, I would like to welcome my new students: Nicholas, Ken, Chris, Brian, Sankash and MichaelM. After a couple of high school kids retired this summer, I am currently at 27 students. I thought this would be too much, but amazingly my new teaching schedule appears to work out. However, I will be busy and we will see in October and November how much stress it will be for me. Please, pretty please, I do NOT need any *more* students. However, I will first be on vacation for the first 3+ weeks of September and then I will play in the CalChess Masters on September 29-30. Consequently, my chess classes are cancelled for the entire month. In other words, my new schedule is in effect for the last week of August and then will resume on Monday, October 1. My new lesson rates also take effect on October 1. I hope most of you will find the time to read this newsletter for lots of fun content. For example, I *highly* recommend that my students attend the CalChess Labor Day Championship on September 1-3 or 2-3 (in a week), although I will not be able to attend for the first time in many years. Perhaps I will see many of you at other tournaments in the last five months of 2007. Check out the table of contents below for other exciting topics. Michael ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. CalChess Labor Day Championship 2. Fpawn's fall tournament schedule 3. Summer recap 4. Tournament results 5. Player of the Month 6. September USCF rating list 7. August Top 100 lists 8. August ICC standard tournament 9. Play 5-minute and 15-minute on ICC 10. Some recommended books and software 11. Upcoming tournaments 12. Lesson schedule and website ----------------------------------- 1. CalChess Labor Day Championship ----------------------------------- CalChess Labor Day Championship September 1-3 (3-day schedule) or 2-3 (2-day schedule) Holiday Inn on Van Ness at Pine in San Francisco flyer: http://www.calchess.org/controlpanel/files/LABOR07.pdf entries: http://www.calchess.org/controlpanel/files/2007CalChessLaborDayEntries.htm (enter through mail postmarked by Monday or on site) The CalChess Labor Day Championship is the biggest annual adult tournament in Northern California, typically drawing about 180 players to the Holiday Inn on Van Ness in San Francisco. Players compete in class sections (every 200 rating points) and can choose from a 3-day schedule (six slow games at 30/90, G/60) or a 2-day schedule (Sunday and Monday only, but rounds 1-3 at the faster pace of G/60). This event also counts as the CalChess State Championship so that the winners can rightfully claim the title of state champ for the next year. In short, I *highly* recommend this tournament for all of my students. It is a great opportunity to play people near your rating, as most opponents will be rated within 100 or 200 points of your own rating. You can show what you are made of without having to face much stronger or much weaker players. Get your friends to join you and this tournament will even be a little bit of fun. The tournament also continues a tradition of "serious" chess. I understand that G/45 tournaments are fun for the kids and require less commitment for the parents, but the games are often sloppy and contain a large element of luck. The "better" player often doesn't win, thanks to silly mistakes in the final minutes. Some of my students also have difficulty in time pressure, losing positions that they would have otherwise won. Playing in multi-day slow tournaments such as Labor Day reduces the luck factor and time pressure. You can't truly claim to be a strong chess player unless you can prove yourself at these real tournaments. I hope most of my students can attend, playing in at least the 2-day schedule. I would normally attend, but this year, I will be on an airplane flying to Europe. I will be thinking of all of you who are playing, wishing you the best. I would appreciate if some people could send me an email after the tournament, telling me how everyone did. Hopefully I can log in from an internet cafe once or twice during my vacation. What section should you play in? One weird feature of the Labor Day tournament is that many people play up a section. In other words, the A section will strangely consist of many B players. My recommendation is that if you are rated in the highest 100 points of your category, then you should definitely play up. For example, a 1520 should play in the B section and a 1720 should be in the A section. All of my students rated over 2000 should strongly consider the top section, just for the competition and also to obtain a FIDE (international) rating. WARNING: The Bay Bridge will be closed all Labor Day weekend due to a seismic retrofit project. My East Bay students must choose between crossing the San Mateo Bridge (Hayward to San Mateo) or take BART. If you take BART, I suggest getting off at Civic Center Station. When you get to street level, walk two blocks up Market (westward) until you hit Van Ness. There you can catch a 47 or 49 bus approximately every 15 minutes. ------------------------------------ 2. Fpawn's fall tournament schedule ------------------------------------ Since I won't be attending the Labor Day Championship, you might wonder if I'll ever play chess again. Don't worry, I will. Here is a list of the tournaments which I am planning to attend for the rest of 2007. I do not plan to play in any more G/45s this year, but I may drop by to watch. Sep 29-30 = 1st CalChess Masters at Mechanics' Institute (recommended to students rated 2000+) Oct 12-14 = 25th Western States Open on Oct 12-14 in Reno (fun event, but school conflict) Nov 3-4 = 37th Capps Memorial at Mechanics' Institute Nov 22-25 = 43rd American Open at LAX (3 or 4 day schedules on Thanksgiving weekend) Dec 15-16 = Sacramento Weekend Swiss at Learning Exchange in Sacramento Dec 26-29 = 17th North American Open at Bally's in Las Vegas (2, 3 or 4 day schedules) For more detailed information about the events in September, October and November, please check out section 11 of this newsletter. I hope most of my students can play sometime in the fall, although I concede it may be difficult for the high school group. My best recommendation for my lower rated students (under 2000) is the Capps Memorial in November. Of course, students rated 2000+ are highly encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to play in the CalChess Masters. ---------------- 3. Summer recap ---------------- What have I been up to lately? The last time I wrote, I was playing at the 2007 US Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma. My results could have been better, but it certainly was the experience of a lifetime! Imagine rubbing elbows daily with the top chess players of the country for nine days, occassionally chatting and even analyzing positions. I thought I played well, but my performance went sour on two stupid time pressure blunders that cost me 1.5 points in the standings and 21 rating points. Especially the latter one, losing a won minor piece endgame, was simply inexcusable. After the US Championship, I played in three slow chess tournaments during the summer: the National Open in Las Vegas, Sacramento Championship after 4th of July and Pacific Coast Open in Agoura Hills. In each case, I had students who joined me. 1. National Open: Gregory (4.0 in U2200) and Steven (4.5 in U2000) both were fighting for top money prizes but ended up half a point short in the end. Both gained rating points and, hopefully, gained considerable experience. A bit surprisingly, only three of my students attended this tournament--and one didn't do so well, to put it mildly. The fpawn also could have done better, finishing at 50% in the Open section. 2. Sacramento Championship: This was the best event of the summer for my students and I. Daniel and I tied for second place at 4.5 behind IM Ricardo DeGuzman, with David and Gregory sharing top U2200 honors at half a point less. In fact, after four rounds, the entire 3.0 point group consisted of my students and I, forcing the pairings Daniel-Gregory and me-David. Unfortunately, I had reentered after a poor start, which included a draw against my student Jeff. The funny part about this tournament is that I predicted a "nightmare" list of opponents--and I actually faced five of the six players on that list! Ouch! 3. Pacific Coast Open: The tournament in Agoura Hills saw Daniel, Gregory and I tied for top U2300 honors at 3.5/6. This was especially a good result for Gregory, who drew against Daniel and then beat me (again). In fact, Gregory faced six masters throughout the tournament and lost to just one: GM Rogelio Antonio of the Philippines. He should have a published FIDE rating of approximately 2195 on the October list. Other students who played and gained rating points included Jeff (3.5 in U2100), Charles (3.5 in U1900) and Andrew (4.0 in U1700). Andrew's result was especially impressive because he started out 3-0 and consequently faced the toughest players in his section. I also played in two G/45 events, not doing particularly well in either one. Apparently the combination of the fast time control, the fact that I never get to play anyone near my rating and having to play my students has contributed to some disappointing results. I keep threatening to quit playing in G/45. Maybe I will now--time will tell. ---------------------- 4. Tournament results ---------------------- The following list includes some of the positive results turned in by my students over the summer. If you don't see your name on this list, chances are that you simply need to get out and play more. Practice makes perfect, and my most active students are also the ones who improve the fastest. Congratulations to all of the winners! The top tournament results are also listed on the student achievements page on my website. http://www.fpawn.com/chess/achievements.htm Gregory ------- Addison G/45 = tied for first place, drawing with IM DeGuzman (2456) Sacramento Championship = tied for top U2200 Bagby G/45 = clear first place, defeating NM Pearson (2232) Pacific Coast Open = tied for top U2300, defeating NMs Van Enk (2253) and Aigner (2290) USCF rating increase from 2076 to 2158 new published FIDE rating in October of about 2195 Danya ----- World Open = 6.0/9 in U2400 against average opposition over 2300; defeated FM Andrew Boekhoff (2374) and FM Dmitri Shevelev (2326); won about $300 prize money USCF rating up to 2170 gained a whopping 63 FIDE points to 2124 Steven ------ World Open = 7.5/9 in U2000 for a share of second place; won over $3,000 prize money; second time that he won big in Philadelphia Kolty chess club = shared first place in club championship, drawing with NM Splane (2257) USCF rating up to 2040, not counting Kolty (he started the year rated 1527) Adam ---- Tuesday Night Marathon = plays every Tuesday at Mechanics' Institute and has gained over 100 points so far this year; two wins against Felix Rudyak (about 2000) USCF rating up to 1860 (he started the year rated 1560) partial FIDE rating of about 1975 Arthur ------ Pafnutieff G/45 = clear second place, including wins against Young (2127) and NM Zavadsky (2245) USCF rating increase from 1794 to 1890 Yian ---- Pafnutieff G/45 = shared top U2000, including wins against Stancil (2128) and Konda (2119) USCF rating increase from 1782 to 1860 Sam --- Burlingame chess club = clear first in #2 section at summer RR, including wins over two 1800s USCF rating increase from 1677 to 1831 Andrew ------ June California Classic = tied for first place in U1800 section, scoring 2.0/3 against B players Pacific Coast Open = started out 3-0 and tied for fifth place in U1700 section USCF rating increase from 1472 to 1631 Rebekah ------- Powell G/45 = scored 2.5/4, including draw with Samatra (1900) and win against Litowski (1725) USCF rating increase from 1374 to 1497 Evan ---- Bay Area Regional Grade Levels = tied for first place grades 7-12 Sankash ------- Bay Area Regional Grade Levels = tied for first place grades 7-12 ---------------------- 5. Player of the Month ---------------------- Picking a Player of the Month is never easy, but after having taken several months off, the choice is even harder. I could reward Danya for a phenomenal result at World Open where he successfully challenged 2300+ rated opposition. Or I could pick Gregory for a whole series of good events, including first place in two consecutive strong G/45 events. Another choice is Steven, who hit the Goichberg lottery for the second time in his young life, winning over $3,000 at World Open. However, I prefer to spread the award around to other kids. Danya, Gregory and Steven have each won my recognition once already in 2007. The winner this time is a tall young man who towers over his competition in more ways than one. He has already gained nearly 350 points this year, an amount overshadowed only by Steven's return to competitive chess after several years off. Please join me in congratulating Adam for winning the Player of the Month award! Adam started out rated in the mid 1400s last year and now sports an 1860 rating. He has sharpened his skills at one of the toughest events around: the Tuesday Night Marathon at the Mechanics' Institute. Last year, Adam was excited to beat 1800 players. Today, he is one himself and prefers to munch on experts, especially Felix Rudyak. Maybe next year, he'll be one of those experts, looking at masters like me for rating points. My big "brother" (an inside joke) is an overachiever in many ways besides chess (who else took calculus in 7th grade?). I'm sure that he will continue to improve in chess simply because of his determination. His playing strength is the opening, although some day I must still cure him of his love for the French defense. Most importantly, Adam is a great guy. Much taller than most 13 year olds, he's a true gentle giant. He even teaches a few kids in his town and his students have won trophies at local tournaments. ------------------------------ 6. September USCF rating list ------------------------------ The USCF now publishes official ratings every month. The September rating list includes tournaments up to the first Friday in August. Note that the October list should include the Labor Day Championship. I now have 27 active students. Three kids are rated over 2000, in additional to my two longtime honorary students. Nine are rated over 1800, a number that will probably increase to at least 11 on the next rating list. And a whopping 18 students are rated over 1600! Fpawn's Top 5 ------------- Hon Daniel Schwarz 2250 1 Gregory Young 2172 2 Danya Naroditsky 2170 Hon David Chock 2098 3 Steven Zierk 2040 4 Jeff Young 1935 5 Alan Naroditsky 1918 Congratulations to 7th grader Gregory Young for taking over as my #1 rated active student. Right behind him is 6th grader Danya Naroditsky. It is possible that Gregory and Danya, both talented players, might swap spots at the top of the list over the next several months. They also will share board 4 on the San Francisco Mechanics team in the US Chess League. I have one more goal for Gregory and Danya: Can they catch NM Daniel Schwarz to become my top ranked student overall? Since Daniel will be busy studying at Stanford University, this goal certainly is possible. The top three rated students also are on top of my K-6, 7-8 and 9-12 grade lists, respectively. Since I teach two of the top five rated kids under 13 in the entire country, it is only a small surprise that my top rated high school student, Steven Zierk, is only ranked #3 overall. However, recent results show that Steven still has substantial room for improvement and he has at least an outside chance of catching NM Daniel Schwarz first. May the Schwarz be with you! :-) Top K-6 ------- 1 Danya Naroditsky 2170 2 Yian Liou 1782 (unofficial = 1860) 3 Sam Bekker 1731 (unofficial = 1831) 4 James Kwok 1569 5 Aamir Azhar 1502 Top 7-8 ------- 1 Gregory Young 2172 2 Adam Goldberg 1860 3 Arthur Liou 1823 (unofficial = 1890) 4 Embert Lin 1732 5 Andrew Chen 1638 Top 9-12 -------- 1 Steven Zierk 2040 2 Jeff Young 1935 3 Alan Naroditsky 1918 4 Charles Sun 1839 5 Aaron Garg 1813 Complete rating list of my students = http://www.fpawn.com/chess/FpawnStudents.html ------------------------ 7. August Top 100 lists ------------------------ (While the September rating list is already available, the USCF Top 100 lists are released only every other month. Therefore this section relies on the August rating supplement.) While I have long been used to having a large number of nationally ranked students, it still amazes me to see 19 kids on the USCF Top 100 lists, ranging from age 10 to 16 and at least one for every age in between. Three are ranked in the top 10, a number that will likely increase to four next month. And finally, Danya Naroditsky holds on to his customary spot as #1 for age 11. Students ranked in top 20 of USA for age ---------------------------------------- Danya Naroditsky 2170 #1 age 11 Gregory Young 2127 #4 age 12 (unofficial = 2158) Steven Zierk 2024 #7 age 13 (unofficial = 2040) Yian Liou 1782 #14 age 10 (unofficial = 1860) Of these 19 nationally ranked students, nine have also made the CalChess Top 20 lists. Danya Naroditsky, Yian Liou and Sam Bekker are all in the top five for under 12 years old (#1, #4 and #5 respectively), with James Kwok and Aamir Azhar at #11 and #13. Amongst the older kids (ages 12-17), Gregory Young is #5, Steven Zierk #11, Alan Naroditsky #14 and Jeff Young #16. Congratulations to everyone--and keep up the good work! CalChess Top 20 under age 12 ---------------------------- #1 Danya Naroditsky 2170 #4 Yian Liou 1782 (unofficial = 1860) #5 Sam Bekker 1731 (unofficial = 1831) #11 James Kwok 1604 #13 Aamir Azhar 1548 CalChess Top 20 age 12-17 ------------------------- #5 Gregory Young 2127 (unofficial = 2158) #11 Steven Zierk 2024 #14 Alan Naroditsky 1936 #16 Jeff Young 1918 Fpawn's national rankings webpage = http://www.fpawn.com/chess/rankings.htm ---------------------------------- 8. August ICC standard tournament ---------------------------------- Former student NM Daniel Schwarz won the August Standard Tournament on Wednesday, August 15 with a perfect 5-0 score. Second place went to experts Michael Zhong and Steven Zierk at 3.5 points. The upstart Kevin Garbe, rated 1644, drew both his teacher and expert Zhong before losing to NM Schwarz on the top board in the final round. Thanks to all 14 players who showed up for this fun event on ICC! I'll try to have another event sometime in late October or November. Final standings: http://www.fpawn.com/ICCAugustWallchart.htm -------------------------------------- 9. Play 5-minute and 15-minute on ICC -------------------------------------- Every few months, I use my newsletter to beg people to take advantage of the opportunity to practice on ICC. In fact, the internet is the #1 reason why children today are way more advanced than their counterparts 10 or 15 years ago. Today you can easily find a strong opponent to play chess against without your parents having to drive you anywhere. Think about it this way: chess is like a sport. Your coach can teach you various maneuvers and tricks, but in the end, it comes down to you executing. You need to spend time repeating your shots or your strokes, over and over. You can't even lie to your sports coach because he can easily tell who did their practice and who was lazy. Chess is not much different. The easiest way to get a game on ICC are the so-called pools. There are three now. For semi serious blitz games, I suggest that you type 5 and hit enter for the 5-minute pool. The new 15-minute pool offers a somewhat slower time control to practice--just type 15 and hit enter. And if you want to have fun and test the speed of your mouse, type 1 and hit enter. When you enter one of the pools, you may have to wait a few seconds to maybe a minute or two and a game with a human opponent somewhat near your rating will automatically pop up. You don't need to seek or do anything else. It is that easy! Now what are you waiting for? Get off your lazy behind and get some practice! --------------------------------------- 10. Some recommended books and software --------------------------------------- I frequently am asked what books I recommend to my students. I am not a bibliophile myself and thus I'm not an expert like some other people in our area. However, I do study from chess books and get ideas for lessons from some of these books. Being a member of the computer age, I tend to spend most of my own study time working with computer programs, especially Fritz, Rybka and Chessbase database. Anyways, here is version 1.0 of my list of recommended books and software. Each item below has a suggested rating range for my students and a number of stars ranging from a modest * to the top ranking of ****. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. Tactics puzzles (practice, practice, practice) --------------- "1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate" by Reinfeld (1000-1600) *** "5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games" by Polgar (1000-1600) ** "1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations" by Reinfeld (1200-1800) **** "Sharpen Your Tactics" by Lein (1600-2200) *** Middlegame books (good to read and learn from) ---------------- "World Champion Combinations" by Keene (1000-1600) * "Chess Tactics for Advanced Players" by Averbakh (1200-1800) ** "My System" by Nimzowitsch (1400-1800) *** "101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures" by Nunn (1600-2000) * "The Art of Positional Play" by Reschevsky (1600-2000) ** "Life and Games of Tal" by Tal (1600-2200) **** "A Guide to Attacking Chess" by Christiansen (1600-2200) **** "Understanding Pawn Play in Chess" by Marovic (1600-2200) *** "Fire on Board" versions 1 and 2 by Shirov (1800-2200) *** Software (everyone should have at least one chess playing program) -------- CT-Art 3.0 Tactics Training Software (1000-1600) ** Chessmaster 10 -- good interactive interface (1000-1600) * Fritz 10 -- strong engine plus medium sized database for about $50 (1600+) **** Rybka 2.3 (http://www.rybkachess.com) -- very strong engine (2000+) *** Chessbase 9.0 -- very expensive but useful for top players (2000+) *** The Success Chess website also has a large list of recommended books by Richard Shorman and Henry Vinerts. Please check it out at . Note that their "advanced" books tend to be for 1000-1400 players, which is the lower end of my teaching range. Enjoy! ------------------------ 11. Upcoming tournaments ------------------------ The following list only contains adult tournaments, plus major state and national scholastic events. For all upcoming tournaments in northern California, check out the CalChess website at: http://www.calchess.org/modules.php?name=Information&page=01_regular_tournaments/schedule.php Sacramento Weekend Swiss August 25-26 Learning Exchange in Sacramento http://www.sacramentochessclub.org/weekend_events/sccws18.pdf Note that the tournament is TOMORROW. It is always fun to play at a McCumiskey run event because you know that the TD is one of the best. I have played in the past, but this weekend I have too many other activities to take care of. If you go, beware the heat! California Classic Tournaments Adult swiss: October 6, November 10 Open quads: August 25, September 29, October 27 Granada School in Santa Clara http://www.bayareachess.com Those who don't want to travel to SF may consider these events in the South Bay. The organizer, Salman Azhar, is the father of a students. Trust me, he knows what he is doing. :-) Some strong players, including a few masters, have been known to play in these 1-day adult tournaments. CalChess Labor Day Championship September 1-3 or 2-3 Holiday Inn on Van Ness at Pine in San Francisco http://www.calchess.org/controlpanel/files/LABOR07.pdf This is the official Northern California (adult) State Championship and I highly recommend my students to attend if possible. Choose between 3-day schedule (six games at slow time control) or 2-day schedule (three games at G/60). Many people play up a section, so I recommend students within 100 points of the next section to play up (e.g. over 1700 should play in A section, not B). I would attend this tournament, but unfortunately, I am travelling in Europe at the time. Mechanics G/45 Tournament September 15, October 20, November 17 Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco http://www.chessclub.org/Donnelly.html http://www.chessclub.org/Dolan.html http://www.chessclub.org/Saint.html Monthly tournaments appeal to players and parents who like 1-day events at faster time controls. Each month about 50 players come to the historic Mechanics' Institute chess club to play chess for 10 hours on a Saturday. The events are kid friendly and often half of the players are juniors. CalChess Masters September 29-30 Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco http://www.calchess.org/controlpanel/files/CalChessMasters.pdf This event seeks to offer opportunities for masters and strong juniors to knock their heads together in a competitive setting. The tournament is restricted to masters, former masters and juniors rated over 2000. I will play and hope all my students who are eligible can attend. Western States Open October 12-14 Sands Regency in Reno, Nevada http://home.nvbell.net/wayern/renochess/wso/index.html The Western States Open is one of my favorite annual tournaments. Organizer Jerry Weikel plans to make the weekend as enjoyable as possible for the players. Unfortunately, my students will have to miss school on Friday to attend. I hope some of you can make it anyways. Although held at a casino, the tournament is separate from the gambling floor and is OK for kids. See you in Reno! 37th Stamer Memorial November 3-4 Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco http://www.chessclub.org/Capps.html This is one of the two bigger annual tournaments at the Mechanics' Institute. The first four rounds on Saturday are G/60 and the last two rounds on Sunday are 30/90, SD/60. This offers a great opportunity for my students to play and I hope to play as well! American Open November 22-25 or 23-25 Rennaissance Hotel at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) http://www.americanopen.org I attended last year and had a good time, albeit struggling at the board. The location allows you to fly in and out, although I would suggest booking a flight soon. Players may choose between a 4-day schedule (eight slow games) or a 3-day schedule with three G/60 rounds. Plan a round 8 bye to be home on Sunday night. Hopefully some of my students can either carpool or fly down. National Scholastic K-12 Championship December 7-9 Hilton Americas in Houston, TX http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2007/K12/ The fall national championship is split into grade levels, with individual and team (3 players per team) trophies. The fall is considerably weaker than spring, offering a bigger opportunity to win a trophy. I'm not planning to attend, but may reconsider if some students decide to go. ------------------------------- 12. Lesson schedule and website ------------------------------- Important! Check out my new lesson schedule (http://www.fpawn.com/chess/schedule.htm) and, if you haven't already, bookmark that page for future reference. The top of the page includes a notice about lesson cancellations, which I try to update whenever I have new information. This new schedule will be in effect from Saturday, August 25 through Friday, August 31 and then again starting on Monday, October 1. I will be on vacation for the most of the month of September and all lessons will be cancelled for the entire month. As usual, check out my website for the latest news, schedule information and other cool tidbits. lesson schedule: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/schedule.htm -- UPDATED! teaching contract: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/contract.htm achievements: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/achievements.htm -- UPDATED! national rankings: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/rankings.htm -- UPDATED! newsletter archives: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/news.htm main pictures page http://www.fpawn.com/pictures.html 2007 National High School photos: http://www.fpawn.com/Nationals2007/page1.html 2007 CalChess Scholastics photos: http://www.fpawn.com/Scholastics2007/page1.html US Championship blog: http://www.chessclub.com/resources/event/uschamp07 May all your pawns promote! Thanks once again for reading the entire newsletter. :-) Michael