Thankful Thursday

Thanks to everyone who sent over little personal notes for us to share with the entire community. We will continue to share your stories each and every Thankful Thursday! Keep on sending them over to icnonlinecommunity@gmail.com and we will continue to share your stories each and every Thankful Thursday. Please include name, school and any photos

We heard from you:

JC and I just wanted to thank you and ICN for introducing Elliott to chess and helping him discover his love for the game. It's so special to see how much passion can come from a 7 year old who only started a year ago. Already before remote learning, you guys were killing it with your programming, and even in this tough situation, you have created amazing opportunities to keep Elliott engaged and challenged everyday. Thank you to all the coaches - all your hard work and dedication are truly making an impact on all these young minds!

- Jennifer (Elliott Goodrich's mom - PS 77 Lower Lab)

Our son Julian attends PS10. His love of chess began with Chess in the Schools when he was in 1st grade. Shortly thereafter, we enrolled him to be a part of The Gladiators. He has worked entirely on his own, as we, his parents, know very little about chess. With that said, Julian has faced many challenges. One of his highlights has been assisting his team to help bring home the Brooklyn Cup two times! But, I have to say that competing at U1000 level for the 1st at the 54th Annual Greater NY Scholastic Championships was thrilling for him. He met Garry Kasparov and Julian felt like he was going to explode from the excitement of it all.

We believe that chess has helped him grow in countless ways, particularly in the realm of being a team player. We are grateful to all of the coaches he has crossed paths with over the past year. Thank YOU for sharing your knowledge and passing it on to our children. They are listening.

Best,

Julian’s mom, Rachel

I just want to commend the ICN community.. if you thought the ICN community just showed up during a pandemic than you are wrong.. for 3 years the ICN community especially Coach Russ has helped my family and therefore became an extension of my family. As a working parent, especially during the summer, it's not always easy to get your child/children to one of their many camp choices. Coach Russ would meet me by job, pick up my son and travel the rest of the way to camp with him. Obviously making it possible for my son to attend camp and for me to make it to work on time. 

Anthony - PS 111

Once my opponent fell for a checkmate. He just moved his Bishop where my rook was going to be and I checkmated him. Then we shook hands and both said good game. Then we went back to our mamas and I hope no one gets COVID-19 at any of the schools.

Daniel Mulvihill, 5 years old, PS 33

Even in these tough times we still have to push through and find a way.

Patrick Mulvihill, 8 years old, PS 33

I dug up these photos taken in 2015 and 2016 when Jed was first starting out in chess! Has it really been 6 years?? He looks so serious, so excited to have graduated into the G&T arena. At such a young age when he was hungry for competition and challenge, chess was such a great creative endeavor for him. Everything about your quads from the cache, to the fun playground to coach Angel’s skiddling made it so enticing for Jed. And the other photo may be the first time he won one of your quads. Finally he started earning his keep ;) I can still remember how proud he was to get that check! You and your team, coach Angel, Shawn have always been there for any student welcoming them into the exciting world of chess with its possibilities for all. Your infectious enthusiasm and ingenious strategies encourage all to walk in, give chess a try and ultimately fall in love with the sport and all that it can bring. I don’t know how you do it but you always manage to find a way to bring new energy and perspective, exciting new angles and goals. Most importantly you always build a community where players can find a supportive and encouraging home. So it is now wonder that now, you have stepped up once again during this trying time, welcoming all chess players with new opportunities for learning and playing chess. Having stepped away from the board for the winter for skiing, Jed is back in and more into it than ever, thanks to all the events and fun you are building online. Many many thanks!!

All the best,

Sloan family 

Chess has been an absolute life line for us during this tumultuous and uncertain times. Both of my kids love playing on and watching instructional videos on chesskid.com. Oliver participates in his weekly team meeting and in daily tournaments. Getting to play chess is an incentive for getting his school work done. 

-Dahlia - PS 130 Brooklyn

My name is Jonas, Chess came into my life when my older sister Dana started playing,  I was in 1st grade and I wanted to do what she did, and my parents enrolled me in the PS 139 club.

At the beginning I didn't understand much, and my sister would always beat me, and would I never want to go to any chess tournaments. A lot of times I wanted to quit chess club, but my parent’s always told me that, If I start something, I have to finish it. 

I was always a shy kid, with few friends and I didn’t talk to much, I was scarred to make mistakes.
PS.139 was always a very strong team for me. I saw how my sister won many tournaments and I wanted to be as a strong chess player like her, so I started playing in tournaments and I started being happy once I started bring medals and trophies to my house. My coach Ian West always gave us courage to make puzzles to prepare for tournaments, I remember one time, I made 1000 puzzles in one week because I wanted first place.
This experience helped me to be confident. Nowadays in life I didn’t change much but now I can say hi to good players from other schools and I don’t feel scared from them but I want to share something important that you can make a lot of mistakes trying to be first place and I finally understand that you have to enjoy chess and play with your heart always trying to do what your coach teaches you. I have to say thank you to coach Mathue, because he would always give me a good word when I lose or when I win, I consider him a real friend.

This is my story.

Jonas-Flores

Thank you very much for giving us great opportunities. We didn't know about chess at all until Takki go to lower lab. We never imagine Takki love chess this much. We watched all movies you recommended for us. Now we all love Magnus. Thank you very much for giving us a new world!

Sincerely, Aya Tanaka - Lower Lab

Hi Coach Russ!

Just writing to check in and say hello and let you know again what great job you all are doing.

The new format is improving everyday and the STAR room is an amazing opportunity for the kids to interact with the coaches. Today was Advay's first experience with getting his games analyzed and it is really helpful to have a coach look at the games. He has been after our lives to go over his games with him after the tournament is over and it really is not our cup of tea! :)

We have seen a lot of improvement in Advay's game and also his confidence in playing unknown players probably because of familiar setting of being at home and also getting more time to work on chess.

We specially want to convey our thanks to Coach Jonathan. He has been amazing in handling the weekly classes, encouraging the kids and keeping them motivated even without the chess balls!

Advay was really nervous about playing in tournaments after new rankings and regrouping but I think he finally found courage on Mondays and Fridays after the class with Jonathan.

He is also happy to see Coach Angel whenever he drops in and Angel always has kind words for kids. All of you are doing an amazing job! Thanks for putting in so much effort. We appreciate it whole heartedly.

Chess is not only fun, but it is also useful because you can learn winning, losing, and lots more.  You can also make friends and have memories from chess.  My favorite chess memory is when my team won Nationals and I won an individual trophy in my section.  It meant more to me than just winning, because I got to be there with my whole team and we had a lot of fun in Nashville.  From then on, it became a tradition for me to go to big tournaments with my schoolmates. 

My dad taught me how to play chess when I was two years old and I liked it from then on.  My dad learned from his dad who learned from my great grandpa!  It means more to me than anything else to share chess with my dad.  

Hello Coaches,

I hope you all are doing well.

In these testing times, Kunj feels so blessed to have his chess family. We remember that when he started playing chess in 2018, he just wanted to know what it is about. And now he has come a long way and we can't say it enough but it is because of the trust you all had in him. Especially during this time when we are home, chess is like a therapy. We want to thank all the coaches for everything they are doing. 

Here is the message from Kunj:

"Thank You for everything. I am so grateful to have the best chess coaches. I feel happy and excited about chess classes and tournaments. Also, I want to learn more chess."

Stay safe.

Regards,

Neha, Sudeep & Kunj

Hi,

We just wanted to say thank you! Jenny, you have helped Allegra improve so much at chess since we went into quarantine with your thoughtful emails.

Also, Coach Russ, your efforts and content have been tremendous.

Just crushing it!

Thanks,
Alyssa on behalf of Allegra, BIB