OUR FIRST DAY IN CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS

Hi!

I'm Claudia Munoz, the mother of 11-year old WCM Claudia Munoz. You mostly associate this blog with my husband and daughter, but this time it's up to me to make an entry since we are in Corpus Christi, Texas.

We arrived a little after mid-noon, only to be told we could not have our hotel room until 3:00 p.m. but that was okay because it provided us with an excuse to go to the MALL!

Yes!

After some very "important" shopping we had some lunch and got some rest before the evening set in. We took advantage of one of the beautiful local beaches in order to cool down.

Usually on our chess trips, we don't often get the opportunity to really go sightseeing, but today, we had an excellent opportunity to do this.

After returning to our hotel followed by a warm shower, straight to bed because we have to get up about 6:00 a.m. - the 1st round should start about 8:30 a.m.

I'm sure my daughter is having sweet dreams right now along with her older sister Faith.


By the way, abed is my husband.

CLAUDIA IS HEADED TO CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS TO THE "SUSAN POLGAR TEXAS QUALIFIER"

THE FAMILY TRUCK

2007 DODGE RAM 1500

About an hour ago, I saw my family take-off on their way to Corpus Christi, Texas; the site of this years "Susan Polgar Texas Qualifier". Like I stated yesterday, someone has to stay behind and pay the bills, but honestly, as a father and chess coach, nothing honors me more than to watch my daughter getting ready to go and compete.

During this weekend, two and only two, qualifying positions are up for grabs to the "Susan Polgar Invitational", the most prestigious scholastic female tournament in the United States.

We, meaing my daughter and I, have worked extremely hard in preparation for this tournament. We were informed that Courtney Jamison and her 2000-plus rating will be attending; however, WCM Sarah Chang, Sylvia Yang, and the Xiang sisters - Evan and Ellen, will not be attending since they are members of the "Susan Polgar All-Star Team". Nevertheless, it was the intention of the Xiang sisters to compete regardless, since the prizes are two $1,000 dollar expense account to the "Susan Polgar Invitational". However, their vacation in China could not be cut short and will miss the event.

Eventhough the star cast foursome will not be attending, Claudia is ready to face any and every competitor. Her spirits were high when she left, realizing that she could build on her 118-point increase performance she had a month ago in the Texas State Championship.

This being her 8th tournament on American soil, her rating is now 1474. The goal is for her to be in the 1800's by next summer, which would allow her to recieve an invitation to represent the United States in the World Youth Championship 2010, in Greece.

But first, this weekend's tournament.

THE F.I.D.E. TIME CLOCK RULE IS GOOD FOR CHESS

written by Abed

Our honorable International Chess Federation, better known as FIDE, has found a way once again to stir-up the chess world, this time via a chess clock.


In the last FIDE congress, the international chess federation voted to implement a new rule, by which, if a player is not physically at his board by the time the clock starts - he loses.


For some reason one would think this is a good thing; however, surfing through the world of chess blogs one sees an outpouring of anger over this new rule.


Here is where I have to drop by two-cents into the machine of "every one has an opinion." We, the chess community, always critize why our sport (because chess is a sport and if it is not then we must stop trying to have it incorporated into the International Olympic Committee) is not taken seriously.


Football, I always see football teams on the field way before the game starts and they are multi-million salaried players.


Baseball, the players are on the diamond way before the games starts.


Soccer, the players even meet on the field before the whistle blows to discuss strategy.


Ok, ok, maybe that is because they are team sports, how about the individual sports?


Golf, I see Tiger Woods always ready to go collect his weekly "allowance" of $180,000 a week at every tournament he participates. I have never seen him arrive late.

How about, Tennis? Marathon runners? etc

Oh, but we chessplayers are severly inconvenienced to be on the board when its our time to compete. A $40, 000 a year grandmaster wants to be allowed to arrive at least 10 minutes late to his game, when $500,000 dollar a month Tiger Woods is expected to be minutes prior to his game ready.

Maybe their is a reason why chess is not taken seriously by other sport organizations.

If my own daughter were to lose because she arrived late, even a minute or five seconds late, I am sure it would never happen to her again. If you cannot respect the game then maybe its time to chose another game to play...wait tennis, golf, soccer, baseball and every other sport would force me to play on time.

I guess we better stick to chess then.

I said my peace.

WELCOME TO www.claudiachess.com

Hi, my name is Abed and I have the blessing of being the father of these two beautiful girls. The daughter on my left is Faith Abigail, she is 13-years old. My other other on my right is Claudia Elizabeth, she is 11-years old.

Both of them were born in Wichita Falls, Texas because that is the city in which I met this other beauty. No, she is not my daughter, she is my wife.

Her name is Claudia, just like my youngest daughter. The reason she looks so young is due to proper dieting, sleep and $20,000 worth of plastic surgery.

JUST KIDDING!

It was only $10,000. Actually, she was blessed with awesome genetics. We are an ordinary family like every other family, except we are the new american family. I say "new" to the fact the we are sons and daughters of mexicans who immigrated to the United States in search of a better lifestyle.

We are proud of our heritage as every american should be of their own. We have dual citizenship as a reminder of who we were and what we are now.

We relocated to Acuna, Mexico in the spring of 2004, from Texas, and although our plans were different, we simply made this city our home. We have our own business and we homeschool our children through a U.S. base curriculum. We are part of the Del Rio homeschool network. By the way, Acuna, Mexico is the border city of Del Rio, Texas.

It was in this city where Claudia learned how to play chess and it was in this country of Mexico where she had her beginnings, we are greatful for that opportunity. However, in 2007, our daughter represented the United States in the North American Youth Championship, where she won the gold medal and based on her performance; she received the Woman Candidate Master title from FIDE.

In 2008, she represented the U.S.A. in the Pan American Youth Championship, where the small american delegation of 21-players, won the 3rd place overall trophy against much larger teams.

Upon returning back home to Acuna, Mexico, we say an immediate change in the attitudes of the FENAMAC (the Mexican Chess Federation) and the CONADE (the Mexican Government Sport's Ministry).

We found out that racisim is universal, in our case because we represented the United States while living on Mexican soil. So, we decided to leave the mexican system of play. We realize that several Mexican chess players attending American colleges are playing in the USCF, without prejudice; hopefully, Mexico can learn from the USCF.

As for now, we are working hard to build a future for our children as well as for ourselves.

In this blog, we will obstain from politics and criticism, we will attempt to highlight the good in people since we already live in a cynical world.

So let's enjoy the ride together!