It’s been a while since our last post and a lot of updates that time just hasn’t allowed us to keep up with! Moving forward we look forward to sharing what we’ve experienced in the past year including our 1st place achievements at our district’s first Chess Puzzle event for middle schools and our 1st …
Continue reading "Celebrating 7 Years of Cobra Chess Club #CobraChess7Years"
An interview with King Law of Cobra Chess Club and the Community Chess Connection NorthEast Chess Club. If you were a past, present or for future members of Cobra Chess or the NorthEast Chess Club, if you’re interested in responding to a few questions for an interview about your memories or current chess activities reach …
Continue reading "Chess Connect Convo w/ King Law of Cobra Chess"
Canyon Hills Middle School (CHMS) Online Spirit Wear Store CHMS Cobra Chess Club Cobra Chess families, you can now place online orders to support Cobra Chess Club. Merchandise includes sweatshirts, hoodies, t-shirts, long sleeve tees, draw-string bags, and caps: How to order… Visit link: https://epiccustomtees.com/collections/chms-clubs Little Link: https://bit.ly/3JxFEex You can now purchase any of the …
Continue reading "Cobra Chess Spirit Store"
We meet every Thursday from 5 to 6:45PM at the Richard Burges Branch Library on 9600 Dyer Street. Check in to learn chess, to develop your skills by playing others, or to share knowledge with those in attendance! Below is our flier featuring different photographs from our club meetings. For more information about the Community …
Continue reading "NorthEast Chess Club #ChessConnect at Richard Burges Branch Library"
Cobra Chess is currently collecting canned goods for the annual Winterfest Chess Tournament #WinterfestChess21 and will participate on November 20th, 2021. Check in and pass the word! The tournament is opened to all grade levels and all donations will benefit those served by the Rescue Mission of El Paso. The flier is below:
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Let the games begin! Our first chess tournament back since the beginning of the pandemic February 2020. Open to all grade levels. Pass the word!
Continue reading "Wiggs Middle School Chess Tournament Fall Regional Scholastic 2021"
On June 23rd, I have the opportunity to share a story with youth at the Westside Chess Academy summer camp. It’s a story of a trip I took during the summer of 2018 to a school training that took my fellow teachers and I to the city of St. Louis, Missouri. It was my first …
Continue reading "Art of Chess, The Painted Pieces of Purling London @ the World Chess Hall of Fame 2018"
In 2019 when our library was renovated and reopened in the NorthEast I signed up to volunteer with the City of El Paso at the Richard Burges Branch. I found out the previous chess educators were not returning and our librarian Ellen asked if Coach Plasencia and I would be interested in facilitating chess activity. …
Continue reading "Reflection on a Pandemic & the 2020 Texas State ChessKid Online Scholastic Chess Championships"
Break time only means its time to settle some scores!!! (j/k) Took an “L” last month so we’re back for another #chess challenge vs. California’s Redwood Middle School…it’s the Riggins vs. Cobras in today’s #ChessDigitalEP #ChessConnect match up! #check! #CobraChess #2ndaryLife. If you’re a middle school out there in the world and would like to …
Continue reading "RMS vs CHMS II Redwood MS v. Canyon Hills MS 11/21/2020"
I’ll always remember the last time we all got together to play chess. It was on the 9th of March because four days later it would be Friday the 13th and that would be the last time I’d see the Cobras face to face and our classroom space. These photographs are from a special occasion. …
Continue reading "Texas State/ChessKid Online Scholastic Chess Championships 2020"
Before we enjoy today’s El Paso Chess Adults vs. El Paso Scholastic Chess Chess Challenge, I want to take this time to extend my thanks to Coach Steve Van Zwienen of Hacienda Heights Chess in El Paso and Jose Plasencia of Segundo Barrio’s La Fe Chess and the Community Chess Connection. On March 9, 2020 …
Continue reading "El Paso Chess Adults vs. El Paso Scholastic Chess: Origin Story of Chess Digital EP"
If your child will attend Canyon Hills Middle School (incoming 6th graders, 7th graders, and 8th graders) and you’d like information for how to register your child into our Cobra Chess Club please email me, Mr. Rhyanes aka Mr. Lee aka mrKingCobra at ltrhyane@episd.org or mrleebooks@gmail.com. I currently teach English (6th & 7th grade) at Canyon …
Continue reading "Cobra Chess Club Online Registration"
I stumbled across some data a few years ago that showed the number of youth chess participants by grade level across the state of Texas. A few in the chess community pointed out that the decrease in participation suggests that as students get closer to high school and graduation, the numbers drop. There’s a sharp …
Continue reading "Why do so many kids quit chess in their teens? An advisory to parents"
This is the last photograph I took of our Cobra Chess Club when we were at school 2020 located in a space we refer to at Canyon Hills Middle School as the “the A file…” This is where we host club! It’s been a year to remember. We participated in many tournaments this year. Won …
Continue reading "Cobra Chess Club 2020-2021: A Look Ahead"
Initially, in 2018 we started talking about a website that would be designed and run by the students. There was a student with some really awesome ideas for how our website could look. He designed it on Wix. On this day we discussed plans for the purpose of our website and how to promote …
Continue reading "A Look Back: Cobra Chess Club Online"
Due to the 2020 pandemic, our Cobra Chess Club and Community Chess Connection activities had to transition into an online space for safety concerns. For our Cobra Chess Club we continue to host chess meetings virtually every Tuesday & Thursday at noon and every Saturday at 1PM. Weekday club is called Cobra Chess Club Kids …
Continue reading "Cobra Chess Club Kids ‘How to Run ChessKid Events Online’"
A great movie to share with students in thinking about the power of artificial intelligence vs. the human brain, but also the history of Go and how Chinese culture has propelled the game forward worldwide. A wonderful story to introduce to youth as a connection to technologies reach into the creative power of the human …
Continue reading "#ChessLit Films AlphaGo"
It’s been a lot of fun these past few weeks competing with several schools on Li Chess. One of those competitors hails from Hacienda Heights International School of the Ysleta Independent School District. Along with La Fe Chess Preparatory School, St. Clements Parish School, and groups from the Westside Chess Academy, Cobra Chess Club of …
Continue reading "Meet El Paso’s Young Chess Champion"
YouTube: click here “I’ve always lived in the not-so-good neighborhoods where there are many abandoned houses and crime everywhere growing up, ” said Tamyre Watkins. Watkins used to be a fist fighter, scuffling with girls is all she knew to survive in the city of Detroit. Those fights often lead to trouble until she met …
Continue reading "Detroit Thinkers The Story of Coach Kevin Fite"
Photograph by mrKingCobra This post will feature photographs and video from Grand Master Susan Polgar’s visit to El Segundo Barrio in El Paso, Texas on April 24, 2010. Susan Polgar is a pioneer in the world of chess and runs a program at Webster University in the chess capital of the United States St. …
Continue reading "A Look Back: Grand Master Susan Polgar’s Visit to El Segundo Barrio in El Paso, Texas"