Odle Middle School Chess Team Succeeds in Nashville

We are on the map

Following its triumph at the State Elementary championships, the Odle Chess Team continued its winning ways both nationally and internationally.

At the US National Chess Championships in Nashville, Odle sixth graders WCM Naomi Bashkansky, Brian Chen, James Lai, Aidan Lawler, and Richard Yang took home a well-earned 5th place in K-6  section, while at the National K-6 Blitz Championships, the Odle team took Second Place in the nation, just edged out by a powerful New York team.

On the international front, the annual Washington vs. British Columbia Scholastic Chess Tournament was held recently.  Each team consisted of two representatives from each grade K-12. Three Odle students helped lead the Washington team to a convincing 29-23 victory: Naomi Bashkansky (6th grade), Richard Yang (6th), and Derek Zhang (7th).

Reprinted from the Northwest Chess blog post by John Lawler and Ludmila Bashkansky

http://www.nwchess.com/blog/2015/05/odle-middle-school-succeeds-in-nashville/

Here are some photos from the event: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0-OrKmx7CBjZkZCc2hSNlVONUU&usp=sharing

We will survive

Chess travel is not for wimps.

Out of the 50 most violent cities in the world, we have already visited, or are considering to visit, 6:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-50-most-violent-cities-in-the-world-2015-1

Ranked by the reported murder rate:

50. Cuernavaca, Mexico  --  25.45 homicides per 100,000 residents.

38. Durban, South Africa  --  34.48 homicides per 100,000 residents.

23. Goiânia, Brazil  --  44.82 homicides per 100,000 residents.

19. St. Louis, Missouri  --  49.93 homicides per 100,000 residents.

14. Cape Town, South Africa  --  60 homicides per 100,000 residents.

9. Cali, Colombia  --  65.25 homicides per 100,000 residents.

Don't forget our visits to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, São Paulo, Brazil and Johannesburg, South Africa, which somehow didn't make the list, even though they are eponymous with highest levels of murderous violence.

A police officer stands next to various body parts in black plastic bags in Cuernavaca October 14, 2012.