2005 Horizon Scholastic

Digressions

Let's get back on track. Last year we had the students play in different classrooms. I believe we had to use three different classrooms to fit all the players. This year we designated the gymnasium as the playing room. This made everything much easier. Getting those classrooms back to their original configurations was not easy. Did you know the word "gymnasium" is derived from the greek word "gymnos" which means "naked"? Yea, it's true. In ancient Greece the athletes use to compete in the nude! This included the ancient Olympic Games, boxing events, wrestling competitions, etc... That must have been a sight. Hmmm, I seem to be digressing again. Anyway we decided not to adhere to the derived meaning of this word and allowed clothes to be worn.

Ok. This is a report on the Horizon Scholastic right? Well, I do recall one ordeal that happened. After all the setup was complete and the registration started Mr. Malone asked me if there was anything else he could do before he left. I couldn't think of anything so I said no. But later, after he left, I realized that the school's chess clocks were locked in his classroom. We were probably going to need them so I borrowed a cell phone from Meg Richert and gave him a call. Believe it or not that was only the second time I ever used a cell phone! I recently saw the inventer of the cell phone on some TV program. Guess what inspired him to invent such a thing. It was the communicators used on the science fiction series Star Trek! You know, that thing captain Kirk talked into when he said: "Beam me up Scotty". But it's a stretch to call his first cell phone mobile. It was huge! It was bigger than most standard phones and I believe he said it weighed 40 onces! Isn't it amazing how some wonderful ideas lose some of their luster when they come to fruition? The cell phone is a good example. A mobile phone that can easily be taken anywhere. What could be bad about that? I bet the inventor didn't think that his invention would increase traffic accidents or cause a lot of annoyances due to ringing at inopportune times and people speaking incredibly loud into them. I wonder if the opposite is true. I wonder if we start with a really bad idea would it be beneficial in some way. Just off the top of my head let's take balloon hats. I can see the headlines now: "Head injuries are down 10% since people started wearing balloon hats"! I seem to have gotten sidetracked again. Well, I never did get those darn chess clocks but it turned out that other people brought enough so it wasn't an issue.

What else can be said of the Horizon Scolastic? It was a great chess tournament! You should have been there!

Individual Results

Team Results