How to be good at Chess in 3 easy steps?

Start with getting a good chess book. I recommend the Chess bookof idiots by Patrick Wolff. Now, get a Chess board. This is what I got: Roll-up vinyl chess board

Here are the 3 easy steps:

1. Learn where the pieces move 

2. Learn the top 5 tactics: fork, double attack, check+ attack, discovered attack, pawn structures 

3. Practice the tactics in step 2 on your chess board alone or with a parent/sibling, and on an online chess website like www.chess.com or www.chesskids.com. This will significantly improve your game!

You will feel like a chess champion in 3-4 weeks! Keep practicing and learning new tactics to improve further! Good luck! Share with me how it goes.

-Writing Girl

t H e S u P e R n A t U r A l H a U n T

                     - a spooky story by Writing Girl

Hello, my name is Jock. Today was going to be the best day of my life. I was going to go to Millburn Haunted House. As we were driving there, the pencil I was writing with dissapeared. I told my mom what happened; and she asked; are you sure? I am sure, I know I did not throw the pencil anywhere. Mom said; that’s weird, meanwhile you can just see the sights along the way. My mom didn't seem to care, but I wasn't going to see the sights along the way. I had to think what just happened to my pencil. Would it be gone forever?

How to author a spooky story in 4 easy steps?

Halloween is around the corner, and this time I want to author my own spooky story. Below are the steps I will use:

Step 1: Create a Story Map – list your characters, charter traits, decide the setting, create a list of problems that keep getting worse before they start to get better, and finally decide an ending. I am attaching a story map template below (click on it to print/preview full-size)

My loss at the Chess tournament

Yesterday was the day of my school chess tournament. The top 12 of the 64 kids would make the school chess travel team. Before the tournament I thought I had a chance to make the team. Top 5 would get trophies, and I thought I could even get one of the trophies! I was feeling super-duper excited. If I got on the team, it would be sooooooo much fun! I thought.

An Interview with a Police Officer

During my visit to India this summer, I had a great opportunity to meet IPS Rahul Prakash, Head of Police in Bharathpur, Rajasthan.

Sir, as he is called mostly, is from Indian Civil Services batch of 2006. In India, if you want to lead a police department for a district (i.e. town) or run the administration for a district, you need to first succeed at the competitive entrance tests called UPSC Civil Services. Out of approximately 350,000 candidates that appear for the test each year, only 200 candidates get a ranking that allows them a chance to become IAS (Indian Administrative Service), or IPS (Indian Police Service), or get a few other elite roles in the government. This is an acceptance rate of only 0.057%. Compare this with business school acceptance rate of 7% at Stanford University, 11% at Harvard University, and 13% at MIT. This service is pretty impressive, and sought after by the brightest people in India. Once selected through the entrance exams, they are trained, and then they work for the government to run the country!