Thinking ahead is the name of the game

Thinking ahead is the name of the game
By Joel Stottrup

Knights, bishops, pawns and queens have attacked and parried at the Princeton library over the past three weeks. And last Saturday was the final battle pitch in the series.

Presiding overall was Daa Mahowald, of New Hope, the third-ranked woman chess player in Minnesota and among the top 100 women quick-chess players in the United States.

Quick chess means a player has 30 minutes or less to complete a game.

The library hosted the three-week chess celebration that Mahowald put on. It included three free 1.5-hour chess classes — one for teens, one for children ages 4-12, and one for adults.

Then there was the culmination Saturday, starting with some informal chess games, then a round of simultaneous chess playing, and at the end a chess tournament.

During the simultaneous event, Mahowald played a half dozen players who sat along one side of a stretch of tables. She moved back and forth in front of them, taking her turn at each board. Consistent with her style of teaching chess, she had strict rules and reminded people if they strayed. Each of her opponents was only to make their move when she pointed at them. Even though she handily dispatched the players, she showed she was not infallible, overlooking at one point that she had placed one of her opponents in check. In her defense, she was responding to six chess players, and trying to keep track of the whole event, including responding once in a while to a reporter.

Here is the full extensive article.