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Chess Life Online Jennifer's Blog Jen Shahade on Yamie Chess & Spreading the Game
Chess Life Online Jennifer's Blog Jen Shahade on Yamie Chess & Spreading the Game | Jen Shahade on Yamie Chess & Spreading the Game |
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| By Jennifer Shahade | |
| December 2, 2013 | |
 The new animated educational learning aid Yamie Chess just released its website, and will officially launch at the New York Toy Fair in 2014. I got a chance to preview (and give feedback) on the multi-disciplinary comic, which combines story-telling, math and chess. I'm sure educators and parents will be thrilled to see the fresh and fun approach to learning math and science. For instance, kids are challenged to calculate the odds of selecting a black pawn from a bag full of pieces, or how to divide chocolates among squares on a chess board. I am personally excited about Yamie Chess's potential to bring more kids into chess via the fantasy world, "Snowmelt." IM Jeremy Silman and recent CLO contributor reviewed the comic on his site. Here’s a beautiful animated video that gives you a sense of the imaginative storytelling. The comic features the romantic Zukertort-Andersen game, which culminates in this position.  7116 I’ll be giving a Yamie Chess simul for Boy and Girl Scouts next year at a massive strategy game convention in Indianapolis, Indiana called GenCon. I'll also be a guest of honor at the event, and will have a chance to talk about the importance of women in gaming. Though we have a long way to go, it’s a very promising time for chess. Between the success of Brooklyn Castle, the international attention for the Queen Within and of course, Magnus’s victory in the World Championship, I can’t remember chess ever being more prominent in the mainstream. I talked about Magnus’s big win on a podcast “Hang Up and Listen”, and explained why I think the increasing glamour of chess is so important to its future. USCF Executive Director Jean Hoffman was quoted in the Wall Street Journal article by Chess Journalist of the Year, Jamaal Abdul-Alim on whether Magnus will attract more interest in chess. “Having a world champion like Magnus Carlsen who’s dynamic and captivating….can only help us promote it and popularize it and hopefully make it part of our educational culture as well.” Yamie Chess is adding to this synergy by bringing chess to prestigious venues like the Toy Fair and and GenCon as well as highlighting its educational value. Stay posted at YamieChess.com. |