Spring Break: "Chess @ the Mall"

Anyone who was at Sunrise Mall Food Court this past
Friday March 18, 2011 witness at least 10 chessboards
near the main stage.  The Royal Knights had set up a time
for casual play. It was 10:00 a.m. when Christian Muraira
and Ray Martinez walked into the food court. Porter's team
members Oscar Osornio and Matthew Cohen were there
waiting to began the day of Chess. Then came Oziel Juarez,
Hector Pena, Manuel Bryan Narcia and Christian Narcia.
The day of chess was starting.  Later 3 adult chess players
from Sendas de Vida Life Center join us. They were Ramiro,
Eliud Ramirez and Luis Matus. The chess matches continue
right thru lunch, some ate Subway, Chick-fil-A, Frullati's,
Taco Palenque, but I had Chinese, and it was good.  Later a
gentleman from Virginia stop by for a game. A boy  from
Harlingen wanted to play, so I give him a lesson and played
with him 2 games. By this time Brianna and Jesse Guillen
came in to play. Brianna was playing very strong that day.
Jesse started to challenge the high school players and even
won some games. We all had a great time playing the game
we love.  I left at 4:00 p.m.  Perhaps "Chess @ the Mall"
will start again as it used to some 4 years ago. The idea is
to start a citywide  chess club. There are chess players
everywhere. Every time I play at the Mall, I get to play chess
with people from around the city, valley, state and
even from other countries. A gentleman from Mexico
will join our group this Sunday for some chess matches.

2011 Region VIII Chess Championships

1376 chess players from all over the Rio Grande Valley
gathered  at Veterans Memorial High School to participate
in this year's Region VIII Chess Championships.
The Royal Knights came to Regionals to bring home the
TROPHY.  All the chess players did an awesome job,
games were played and notated.  Win, Lose, or Draw-->
the Royal Knights learned from each game. Royal Knights
believe as Bobby Fischer did, "I prepare myself well. 
I know what I can do before I go in.  I'm always confident." 
and "I play honestly and I play to win. If I lose,
I take my medicine."  If games are not analyse then what 
do you learned. Nothing. The player will keep losing games.
This year as always my Royal Knights helped their school
chess teams win. Ratings went up and trophies were won.

Chess Players winning TROPHIES were:
Christian Muraira  3rd place   6 pts.   Middle School Open
Maraya Garcia          5th place   6 pts.   Middle School JV
Melissa Medina      11th place   6 pts.    Elementary JV
Elian de los Santos   6th place   6 pts.    Elementary Open
Philip Martinez        7th place  5.5 pts.  High School Open
Joshua Munoz          24th place  5.5 pts.  Elementary JV
Bradley McCaleb   16th place  5.5 pts.   Elementary JV
Joshua Torres         18th place      5 pts.   Primary JV
Angel Saucedo        34th place      5 pts.   Elementary JV

Porter Chess Team took 3rd as well National Funding
State is coming up in 1 week ( February 12 - 13, 2011)
in Houston, Texas.  Practice, Practice, Practice and study,
do drills and endgame exercises and of course play lots of
games. Get ready to win another TROPHY.

Merry Christmas

To the  mighty and strong chess players: the Royal Knights,
my warmest wishes full of happiness and joy to you all.
You have done a great job building your game up this year.
I am so proud of you all: 

2010 Texas State Grades Championships

The Royal Knights came to Brownsville's Veterans Memorial
High School to participate in 14th Annual Texas K-12 Chess
Championships in the hope of bringing home the TROPHY.
Jonathan Olivares, a six grader at Edinburg's South Middle
School was sick Friday, but still managed  to win 5 points to
become a 6th grade Co-Champion but after tied-breakers took
home a 3rd place trophy.  Ashley Pena, a fourth grader at
Edinburg's Canterbury Elementary has really improve her game.
She won 5 of  her  6 chess matches to tie for 2nd place and
after tied-breakers took the 7th place trophy home.
Nathaniel Morales,  Canterbury's top board and one strong
chess student played  his way to a 6th place finish with 5 won
games and the 2nd grade trophy.
Elian de los Santos, a 2nd grader at Brownsville's  Elgy
Elementary was sick with a fever Thursday and Friday before
the chess tournament but still managed to win the 8th place trophy.
Philip Martinez, senior class president and captain of the
Porter Chess Team took home the 4th place trophy.

       Teams that won a trophy:
          South Middle School
         6 grade              3rd place

         Canterbury Elementary
        Kinder                2nd place
       1st grade              5th place
       2nd grade             2nd place
        3rd grade             8th place
        4th grade             4th place
        5th grade             8th place

Royal Knights help Canterbury Win

The Royal Knights came to Porter High School Chess Tournament
Saturday, October 16, 2010 to bring home "the Trophy".
Last year's State Champions (Canterbury K-1 team) took
1st Place with a commanding lead. This Primary Team will take
state again this year. Royal Knights includes:
Nathaniel J. Moralez, last year's Regional co-champion lead
the way with 4.5 points, Armando N. Ponce also 4.5 points,
Kristopher L. Solis 4.0 points, Nicolas Garcia last year's
National trophy winner added 4.o points and Justin J. Gonzalez
contribute 3.5 points. The team total score was 17.0 points.
Yes, the Royal Knights are the power behind this winning and
powerful Canterbury Primary Chess Team.