10 months ago

Play in my first USCF monthly rapid online chess tournament

All USCF players welcome!

You are invited to play in my very first USCF (United States Chess Federation) online rated tournament on Saturday, July 15th at 10am PST!

Update on Thursday, July 12 at 3:24pm PST: 9 players have signed up for this Saturday! Join the fun and sign up below!
Here's more details:

What: A US Chess (United States Chess Federation) online-rated chess tournament

When: Saturday, July 15th at 10am PST

Tournament Format Type: Swiss-system. That means nobody gets eliminated from the tournament, even if she/he looses.

# of Rounds: 5 rounds
Time control is G/10 + 2 (affecting US Chess online quick rating).

Sections: one open section with no rating restriction (open to all ratings!)
Pairing: based on chess.com rapid rating.

Entry Fee: $15

Prizes: First place wins $20. Second place wins $15. Third place wins $5.

Rating of the event: The tournament will be submitted to US Chess for rating after the fair play screening has been completed. Any adjustment due to fair play violation will follow the standard US Chess Online Play guidelines.

Other things to know: My monthly USCF rated online chess tournaments will always be the third Saturday of every month at 10am PST. The platform for the chess tournament is chess.com. Cheating is never tolerated in my tournaments.

How to join this tournament: Fill out this form here.

Here is my official United States Chess Federation tournament listing.

If you aren't a USCF (United States Chess Federation) member, you must be a USCF member to play in my my tournament. You can join the USCF here.

I have been a USCF member since 1999! Here is my USCF rating page. You will get a USCF rating page once you are a USCF member too.

Only players with a chess.com account in good standing are qualified to play in the tournament. At any point a player has an account that's been closed, they loose the right to play in the tournament. No exceptions.

I will also be offering a LIVE Q&A session on Zoom on Thursday, 7/13 at 5:40pm PST, in case anybody has questions about my tournament.

Zoom details: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89144038751?pwd=WG5qKzFtWG1OR2JyK2tIcExrTWpIQT09
Password: 302674

I hope you can play in the tournament! I want people to have fun while they play in my tournaments! If your rating is under 1000, I'll analyze your chess games on my Twitch livestream!

10 months ago

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Play in my next FREE monthly online chess tournament this Saturday, June 24th at 10am PST.
To ensure fairplay, here are the requirements to play in this tournament:
1) You must be rated below chess.com's 1800 rating
2) You must have played a minimum of 12 chess games on chess.com.

The tournament is 5 rounds and the time control is G/10. That means one game can last 20 minutes.

First place wins a $20 Amazon.com gift card and a Chessable membership! Second and third place winners gets Chessable memberships too!

In order to play in the chess tournament, then you must be a member of my chess.com club. Join my club here.
After you join, then you will see the link to join my chess tournament on my club's homepage. If you don't see the link, here is the tournament link.

I host these monthly chess tournaments for my students and followers to have fun and learn. This is a great opportunity to play against my other students and followers!

I will be broadcasting all the tournament action on my YouTube chess channel. If you play in my tournament, then I will analyze at least one of your chess games on my YouTube chess channel. This is a great way to get better in chess.

I DO NOT TOLERATE cheating in my tournaments. If you want to cheat, then DON'T play in my tournament. You WILL get CAUGHT cheating if you do cheat in my online chess tournaments! In other words, cheating is a very bad idea!
On a side note, Orca Financial Group (www.OrcaFG.com) is graciously doubling our prize fund for the upcoming tournaments. OrcaFG was started by Georgiy Krasnopolskiy, who learned chess as a child, went to college on a chess scholarship, and then had a chess school. Chess is a passion of his and we are excited to have his help!

11 months ago

My super long black and white chess scarf!

The scarf is over 412 feet long!

In June 2019, I flew to Chicago to visit my aunt for several days. She loves to crochet and I wanted to learn how, so she taught me at her house. I remember she taught me the single crochet stitch with pretty chunky yarn. This was my first time picking up a crochet hook. At first, my stitches were pretty uneven and a little messy, but I kept at it. I continued to crochet at home and sometimes at a local crochet group. Eventually, my stitches started to look much neater. Over time, I made a variety of scarfs and beanies using the single crochet stitch. I proudly gave them away to family members, friends, and some of my chess students.

One of my missions in life is to inspire millions of people around the world in a positive way. In order to do this, I want to do something extraordinary. Since I enjoyed crocheting, I thought maybe I could crochet the longest crochet scarf by an individual.

After taking a look at the official Guinness World Records website I learned that the official world record at that time was 150 meters, or about 492.126 feet long. I thought that this record was reasonable to beat, so I officially applied to try to beat the record.

Several months later, Guinness World Records officially accepted my application and I started my scarf on November 19, 2019. Now during a typical week, I work on this scarf almost every day. When I wasn’t crocheting, I was often teaching chess to kids and adults who lived in many areas in the United States. I also played tennis and did other hobbies.
Since I am a chess teacher, chess book author, YouTube/Twitch livestreamer, I hoped that my crocheting and chess would “meet” and others would be inspired. And, yes, my scarf has a chess theme: almost all of the yarn balls in this scarf are black and white – the same colors as a typical chess board.
Like successful chess, I wanted to be consistent with the presentation of my scarf. All the yarn I used and will continue to use will always be Red Heart Soft Yarn and Red Heart Super Saver Yarn. All the yarn I used and will continue to use will always be created by Yarnspirations.
By October 2021, I had completed about 244 feet and that’s when I received a surprise. A lady from the United Kingdom officially broke the world record. Her super long crochet scarf was 646 feet and 7 inches. In March 2023, another lady from the United Kingdom broke the official world record. Her crochet scarf is 834 feet and 8 inches.

At the time of this writing, which is June 2023, my super long crochet scarf is about 414 feet long and I am proudly currently working on my 208th yarn ball. On average, I complete one yarn or two yarn balls per week. Did you know that 410 feet is longer than an American football field? Since I average about 100 feet per year, it would probably take me about 4 to 5 years to get the scarf to be around 835 feet long for a new shot at the record. Unfortunately, I don’t want to commit another 4 to 5 years (I’d rather be doing other interesting things in life) to get my scarf to be over 835 feet in length. There is also a possibility that the world record could officially be broken again. For these reasons, my official goal is get my scarf to be 500 feet in length, and thus officially beat my initial goal of beating the world record of 492.126 feet long, the record when I started.

Once my scarf is about 500 feet long, I am assuming that this will be North America’s longest crochet scarf by an individual! I want the scarf to be displayed at a public place, such as a major airport terminal tunnel (By the way, I love airplanes and airports), a famous museum, a lobby at a huge company, or something similar.

I am very confident that if my finished scarf is displayed in a public place, this will be a positive inspiration for others! Since my scarf is primarily black and white, I’m sure the scarf will inspire others to play chess. The 100th yarn ball is primarily pink in color because pink is my favorite color. The 200th yarn ball in my scarf is dark blue. The 201th yarn ball is light blue. I chose the color blue because blue means ocean. I want people to take care of the oceans. I want people to believe in themselves, think big and go for their dreams in their life. I want to inspire more people to play chess.

Please join me on my livestream and watch me get my super long scarf to 500 feet. I usually live stream mostly on weekday mornings and some evenings. Click here to get to my YouTube crochet channel! Please join me on my livestream and watch me get my super long scarf to 500 feet. I usually live stream mostly on weekday mornings and sometimes evenings.

11 months ago

Come to my in-person "Queen For A Day: The Girl's Guide To Chess Mastery" book talk

It's on Saturday, June 3 from 1-2pm PST at the San Carlos library.

Hi everyone! If you don't know this already, I wrote a chess book called, "Queen For A Day: The Girl's Guide To Chess Mastery", which is available on Amazon. You can buy the book here.

In my exciting book talk for beginner chess players, I will guide patrons and play a whole game against Sophia, the fictional character in the book.
The FREE in-person book talk is on Saturday, June 3 from 1-2pm PST at the San Carlos library, which has easy parking. The address of the library is: 610 Elm Street San Carlos, CA 94070.

Click here for more info about my book talk! I hope you can share this book talk info with others who might be interested. Thanks in advance! I hope you and others will attend! That would mean a lot to me!


Here's more details about the book:
Since chess is a male-dominated game, I wrote this instructional book to inspire more girls and women to play chess. This book takes readers through a complete chess game against Sophia, a girl who has just learned how to move the chess pieces. In the book’s game, players are asked to choose among a master level move, a good-okay move, and a third that is just plain bad. Then readers await Sophia’s next move! With this book, readers will learn to make smart moves in their own real-life chess games, too! This book is edited by Woman International Master Alexey Root, 1989 US Women's Chess Champion. You can check out Alexey's awesome books here.
This book is endorsed by respected chess masters, including WGM Jennifer Shahade who won the US Women's Chess Champion twice, FM James Eade, who wrote the popular "Chess For Dummies" book, and more.

11 months ago

Play in my next FREE online chess tournament on Saturday, May 27th

Winner gets a $20 Amazon gift card

Play in my next FREE monthly online chess tournament on Saturday, May 27th at 10am PST.
To ensure fairplay, here are the requirements to play in this tournament:
1) You must be rated below chess.com's 1800 rating
2) You must have played a minimum of 10 chess games on chess.com.

The tournament is 5 rounds and the time control is G/10. That means one game can last 20 minutes.

First place wins a $20 Amazon.com gift card!

In order to play in the chess tournament, then you must be a member of my chess.com club. Join my club here.
After you join, then you will see the link to join my chess tournament on my club's homepage. If you don't see the link, here is the tournament link.

I host these monthly chess tournaments for my students and followers to have fun and learn. This is a great opportunity to play against my other students and followers!

I will be broadcasting all the tournament action on my YouTube chess channel. If you play in my tournament, then I will analyze at least one of your chess games on my YouTube chess channel. This is a great way to get better in chess.

I DO NOT TOLERATE cheating in my tournaments. If you want to cheat, then DON'T play in my tournament. You WILL get CAUGHT cheating if you do cheat in my online chess tournaments! In other words, cheating is a very bad idea!
On a side note, Orca Financial Group (www.OrcaFG.com) is graciously doubling our prize fund for the upcoming tournaments. OrcaFG was started by Georgiy Krasnopolskiy, who learned chess as a child, went to college on a chess scholarship, and then had a chess school. Chess is a passion of his and we are excited to have his help!

1 year ago

Let's learn more about world chess champion Ding Liren

He's the first player from China to become world chess champion!

Ding Liren is a Chinese chess grandmaster who recently became the 2023 World Chess Champion. He has a bright future in front of him! He is the very first person from China to become world chess champion. On a side note, my grandparents are from China but I have never been to China myself. I hope to visit China one day, but not anytime soon. Ding was born in Wenzhou, China in 1992 and started playing chess at the age of four. I consider 4 years old to be very young to learn chess! A long time ago, I tried to teach a 4 year old chess and that 4 year old was too young to learn chess. I guess it depends on the individual since everybody is different.

Ding quickly showed a talent for the game and won his first national title at the age of 12. In 2009, he became a grandmaster at the age of 16, making him the youngest grandmaster in China at the time. Ding has continued to achieve success in chess throughout his career. He has won numerous tournaments, including the World Cup in 2017 and the Sinquefield Cup in 2019. He has also been ranked as high as number two in the world.

Ding is a well-rounded chess player who is known for his strong opening preparation, his positional play, and his endgame technique. He is also a very active player who is always looking for ways to create counterplay. Ding is a role model for many young chess players around the world. He is proof that anyone can achieve success in chess, regardless of their age or background. If you are interested in learning to play chess, Ding is a great player to study and learn from.

How to Learn to Play Chess

If you are interested in learning to play chess, there are a few things you can do to get started:
1. Learn the basic rules of the game. There are many resources available online and in libraries that can help you with this. Contact me for chess lessons.
2. Practice regularly. The more you play, the better you will become. When you play chess, make sure that you play with a slow time control, such as G/10 or longer. G/10 means that you have 10 minutes to think for the entire game. Do not play with a fast time control, such as G/5 because you won't have enough time to think properly.
3. Find a chess mentor or coach who can help you improve your game. A good coach can help you identify your weaknesses and develop a plan to improve. Contact me for chess lessons. I have been teaching chess for the last ten years to kids and adults.
4. Don't give up! Chess is a challenging game, but it is also very rewarding. Winning is always an awesome feeling. Losing is part of the game and a lot of people don't like to lose, including myself. If you lose, treat it as a losing experience.
Here are some additional tips that may help you learn to play chess:
* Study the games of the great masters. This is a great way to learn new strategies and tactics.
* Analyze your own games. This will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Send me your chess games so I can analyze it for free on my YouTube chess channel. This is a great way to get better.
* Don't be afraid to experiment. Try new things and see what works for you. Try new openings and see what openings you like. Openings are all about personal preference. For example, I love to play the Ponziani as white, but some people may not like playing Ponziani and prefer to play something else, such as the London System.
* Have fun! Chess is a game, after all. If playing chess wasn't fun, I wouldn't be playing it.
I hope these tips help you on your journey to becoming a chess player.

Let me know what you think about Ding Liren by commenting below.

Lauren has been enjoying teaching chess to kids and adults for over nine years. Lauren has also written two chess books for beginner chess players, which are endorsed by respected chess masters. WGM Jennifer Shahade, WGM Jennifer Yu, FM James Eade and other top chess players have endorsed "Queen For A Day: The Girl's Guide To Chess Mastery". Lauren also enjoys livestreaming on her YouTube chess channel.
Join Me On: YouTube, Chess.com, Facebook, Amazon book page