1 year ago

How chess benefits kids

Read this article!

Chess is a game that has been enjoyed by people of all ages for centuries. But did you know that chess can also be a great way to benefit kids?

Here are some of the ways that chess can benefit kids:

**Improves cognitive skills. Chess requires a variety of cognitive skills, including problem-solving, critical thinking, planning, and memory. Playing chess can help to improve these skills, which can benefit kids in other areas of their lives, such as school, work, and everyday problem-solving.

**Increases concentration and focus. Playing chess requires kids to focus on the game and to think ahead. This can help to improve concentration and focus, which can be beneficial in other areas of their lives, such as studying or working.

**Teaches discipline and perseverance. Chess is a game that requires discipline and perseverance. Kids must learn to follow the rules and to keep trying even when they are losing. This can teach valuable life lessons about discipline and perseverance.

**Promotes strategic thinking. Chess requires kids to think strategically about their moves. This can help to improve strategic thinking skills, which can be beneficial in other areas of life, such as business and problem-solving.

**Develops problem-solving skills. Chess requires kids to solve problems. Kids must learn to identify problems, generate solutions, and evaluate the best solution. This can help to improve problem-solving skills, which can be beneficial in a variety of areas of life.

**Builds self-confidence. Winning a chess game can be a great boost to self-confidence. Kids who learn to play chess and improve their skills can gain a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.

**Teaches sportsmanship. Chess is a game that teaches sportsmanship. Kids must learn to win and lose gracefully, and to respect their opponents. This can help to promote sportsmanship in other areas of life. Improves academic performance. Studies have shown that kids who play chess tend to have better academic performance than kids who do not play chess. This is because chess helps to improve cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, which are also important for academic success.

If you are looking for a fun and challenging game that can also benefit your child, then chess is a great option. There are many resources available to help kids learn to play chess, and there are chess clubs and tournaments all over the world. So what are you waiting for? Get your child started with chess today!

Here are some additional tips for getting your child started with chess:

Find a good chess book or online tutorial to help your child learn the basics of the game. Contact me for more info.
Practice regularly. The more your child plays, the better they will become. Send me your kid's chess game and I'll analyze it for free on my Twitch channel.
Join a chess club or find a chess partner for your child to play with.
Don't be afraid to lose. Losing is a part of learning.
Have fun! Chess is a great game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. I have played a chess game with a 5 year old before. A long time ago, I played a game against an old man in his 90s!

I hope this blog post has convinced you of the many benefits of chess for kids. If you are interested in getting your child started with chess, I encourage you to check out the resources I have mentioned.


1 year ago

Play in my FREE monthly online blitz tournament this Saturday!

First place wins a $10 Amazon gift card!

The tournament is on Saturday, August 26th at 10am PST. Please note that this is not USCF rated, so anyone can play.
More info: The tournament is 7 rounds and the time control is 3 | 2, which is a blitz time control. That means a player starts out with 3 minutes. Every time that player makes a move, then 2 seconds is added to his or her time. All skill levels are welcome to play!

First place wins a $10 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! This is a great opportunity to play against my other students and followers!

If you play in my tournament, then I might analyze at least one of your chess games on my Twitch chess channel. Click here to get to my Twitch 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!








1 year ago

Play in tomorrow's USCF online rapid chess tournament

The tournament will be on Saturday, August 19th at 10am PST.


Here's more details:

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

When: Saturday, August 19th at 10am PST

Here are the updated entries:
1) Sumukh Subramanyam rated 318
2) Surya Raghav rated 876
3) Chris Beckerson unrated
4) Rose Xia unrated
5) Miyuki Sakaki rated 818

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.

It's not too late to sign up for tomorrow's 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 hope you can play in the tournament! I want people to have fun while they play in my tournaments! I'll analyze at least one of your chess games on my Twitch livestream!






1 year ago

Play in my FREE chess.com blitz tournament

First place wins $10 Amazon gift card

Play in my next FREE monthly online chess tournament on Saturday, July 29th at 10am PST. Please note that this is not USCF rated, so anyone can play.
To ensure fairplay, here is the requirement to play in this tournament:
1) You must have played a minimum of 10 chess games on chess.com.

The tournament is 9 rounds and the time control is 3 | 2, which is a blitz time control. That means a player starts out with 3 minutes. Every time that player makes a move, then 2 seconds is added to his or her time.

First place wins a $10 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! This is a great opportunity to play against my other students and followers!

If you play in my tournament, then I might analyze at least one of your chess games on my Twitch chess channel. Click here to get to my Twitch 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!








1 year ago

Entry list for my inaugural USCF online chess tournament on Saturday, July 15th

Updated on July 15th at 9:18am PST.
If you registered for this tournament, I sent you an email. As a friendly reminder, to join today's tournament, go to my club, "Chess By Lauren" on chess.com. Click here.to join the club. Then you have to click on the tournament link.
The tournament link is here.

Here is the entry list for my inaugural online USCF rated chess tournament on Saturday, July 15th at 10am PST. So far, 13 players have signed up, including a master!!

1) Hridayesh Mohan Kumar, 31329631 USCF ID, Unrated
2) Neil Bhatkhande, 16031303 USCF ID, 640
3) Hamilton Zhang, 16414260 USCF ID, 718
4) Christopher Snell, 12659622 USCF ID, 1811
5) Hugo Pu, 31093860 USCF ID, 926
6) Sam Beckerson, 31337648 USCF ID, Unrated
7) Ryan Khoury, 31332330 USCF ID, Unrated
8) Ishan Bhat, 31282823 USCF ID, Unrated
9) Yashasree Sabui, 30559287 USCF ID, 128
10) Gabriel Joseph Araujo, 31316019 USCF ID, Unrated
11) Brandon Wu, 15742987 USCF ID, 135
12) Dipro Chakraborty, 12935003 USCF ID, 2238
13) Russell Kula, 30700877 USCF ID, Unrated

Here is my official United States Chess Federation tournament listing.

It's not too late to join the tournament! If you want to join, join as soon as possible! I will end registration about two hours before the tournament starts. That's about 8am PST. Click here to join the tournament.



I also offered a LIVE Q&A session on Zoom on Thursday, 7/13 at 5:40pm PST, in case anybody had questions about my tournament. This session already happened.

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

Here is more info about this 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.

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 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 or unrated, I'll analyze your chess games on my Twitch livestream!






1 year 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!






1 year 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!







2 years 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.









2 years 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.

Me and my books


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.






2 years 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!