Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
Justus Williams has come a long from being the soft-spoken boy with the long dreadlock mane. The last five years have been a whirlwind for the 15-year old from the Bronx, New York. He is now a slender, clean-cut, bespeckled high school sophomore at Bronx School of Science and Technology who has already traveled to several countries and has even starred in the documentary “Brooklyn Castle".
Williams draws inspiration from a number of figures including GM Maurice Ashley and Lebron James, both champions with interesting stories. While Justus has not met Lebron James yet, he has rubbed shoulders with celebrities in Hollywood who were inspired by his OWN story! However, Justus seems to be very mellow about all that he has experienced. The determination that boils inside of him is disguised by his demeanor which makes makes him quite an enigmatic figure.
Justus has tasted national fame, but the accolades keep coming. Today, Justus won the U.S. Cadet Championship, a tournament featuring the top eight players under 16 years of age. Amongst the eight master-level players, he showed the most poise in his demeanor and in his play. His triumph occurred after he lost his first-round game to Michael Brown of California. After three consecutive draws, he won his last three games including a win over his friend and fellow scholastic star Josh Colas. Ironically, he would be tied with Brown on 4.5/6 and the two would play a tiebreaker with a college scholarship at stake.
In this finale, Justus was able to apply just enough pressure with black and his opponent ultimately collapsed in a heap. With this victory, he would win a scholarship to the University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMBC) and earn his name on the roll of Cadet champions.
With his photogenic smile and growing resume, he is certain to get more college offers and travel opportunities. However he would also like to see how far he can go in chess. His mother Latisha Ballard-Williams has always had the confidence in what chess could do for her son. She is like many chess parents who realize that chess is more than a leisure activity, but a path for realizing one’s hidden potential. Justus is becoming a case study before our eyes. (Text: Daaim Shabazz/The Chess Drum Photo: Latisha Ballard)
Will Intermediate School 318's Chess Team Fall to Budget Cuts?
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Observer has reported about a talented chess team from a school which went on to become the heroes of a super chess film. Rebecca Hiscott writes: Intermediate School 318’s chess team isn’t the only after-school activity that might be affected by upcoming budget cuts, but it is perhaps the most beloved. The City of New York currently supplies $20,000 of the program’s $60,000 budget, with I.S. 318 and fundraising efforts accounting for the rest of the costs.
“Our funding has been reduced every year for several years now and, as a result, we’ve had to make very deep cuts,” I.S. 318’s website reads. “We won’t be able to take many students to Nationals or go to many of the tournaments we regularly win or do well in.”
The championship winning chess team was the subject of the critically acclaimed documentary, Brooklyn Castle, a touching chronicle of a group of youths’ resilience and resolve at a school where more than 60 percent of students live below the federal poverty line. The team became the first middle school to win the United Chess Federation’s national high school championship in 2012.
Mayor Bloomberg has also been photographed posing with the team as it is one of the most high-profile programs in the city. Right now, it is unclear where the city will make cuts, the complete proposal due on June 30.
According to the Campaign for Children, a coalition of over 150 childcare and after-school provider and advocacy groups, the proposed $130 million in cuts would put 8,000 children at risk and broadly affect more than 41,000.
A slew of programs across the five boroughs will feel the sting of these cuts, but I.S. 318’s chess team stands out because of its visibility. But the narrow focus of attention isn’t necessarily a bad thing–rallying to save one program could rescue scores more in the process.
Brooklyn Castle Chess Star Rochelle Ballantyne Simul in Washington
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
The Council of the District of Columbia passed a resolution this month proclaiming April 18, 2013, to be “Chess in the Schools Day” in the District. Council member Tommy Wells presented a copy of the proclamation to U.S. Chess Center president David Mehler at a reception honoring Rochelle Ballantyne, the 17-year-old chess star from New York City who was featured in the documentary film Brooklyn Castle.
Rochelle Ballantyne meets with students at William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts.
While in Washington, Ballantyne, played a 20-board simul against D.C. public school students at the Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation Center. She also met with students and educators at local schools to promote the benefits of learning chess. Her visit to the nation's capital was co-sponsored by the Washington Teachers' Union, whose president, USCF member Nathan Saunders, supports using chess as a tool to promote higher academic achievement.
Ballantyne is graduating this year from Brooklyn Tech High School this year and will attend Stanford University on a full scholarship in the fall. Her recent performance at Super Nationals puts her rating at just over 2100, pushing her closer to her goal of becoming the first African-American female master.
Ballantyne's appearance and the District Council's proclamation were part of a larger initiative by the U.S. Chess Center, a local nonprofit charity that teaches chess to at-risk children as a means of improving their academic and social skills. The Chess Center has initiated chess programs in more than 80 D.C. public schools and taught approximately 30,000 children the rules, strategy, and etiquette of the game since its founding in 1992. (Gavin Francis/USChess.org)
Black Chess Talent Rochelle Ballantyne Simul in Anacostia this Thursday
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Rochelle Ballantyne, a member of the famed Brooklyn Castle championship scholastic squad and the highest rated black female player in the United States, will conduct a 20-board simultaneous exhibition this Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the THEARC in Anacostia, located at 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE. Ballantyne, 17, and headed to Stanford on a full scholarship next fall, is on track to becoming the country’s first female African-American chess master and has already won two U.S. Girls Championship age-group titles. The U.S. Chess Center and the Washington Teachers Union are co-sponsoring the event, which will be held on the first D.C. “Chess in the Schools Day.” Proceeds from the event will help fund the Chess Center’s activities. For more details, call the Center at 202/ 857-4922. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's www.chessblog.com Also see her personal blog at www.chessqueen.com Don't miss Chess Queen™ YouTube Channel
Cool Chess Stars from Brooklyn Castle Movie Walk the Red Carpet in LA
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Photo: Brian Schulz
Three stars of the highly acclaimed documentary, Brooklyn Castle, walked the red carpet last week at the 44th NAACP Image Awards in LA. Brooklyn Castle, the story of IS 318, the Championship chess team was nominated for the Best Documentary award. Pobo "Pobama" Efekoro, Rochelle Ballantyne and National Master Justus Williams flew from NY to LA for the star-studded ceremony, according to a nice report at the USCF website.
"To walk on the red carpet with Rochelle and Justus was exhilarating," Pobo said, "We were experiencing the the vibe of what it was like to be in Los Angeles, to be a movie star. And its something that the three of us will cherish."Meeting the rapper Common was a highlight. Rochelle, who aims to be the first female African-American chess master in history, said, "I respect him so much not only for his lyrics but for all he does in society." According to Pobo, upon introducing themselves, Common asked if they knew a guy named Maurice. "Our eyes lit up. 'You mean (Grandmaster) Maurice Ashley!?' He nodded. That was a very cool moment." Justus wore a tailored Kenneth Cole suit picked out by his grandmother and mom. Rochelle said her mom chose her gold dress. Originally Pobo wanted to look "extravagant" but "my mom along with my coworkers decided I should dress formally. I had a dark brand new suit and a gray, black, and blue striped tie. I think it worked out." Rochelle, who will be attending Stanford in the Fall, said: "LA is so beautiful, I feel like I was born to live in California."
Find more photos from the event at this USCF gallery and read all previous Chess Blog posts on Brooklyn Castle here.
Brooklyn Castle Chess Movie: Must-Watch Twice; Free Tickets for Teachers!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Have you watched chess documentary Brooklyn Castle yet? You have missed something special if you haven't! There's still time to catch this fantastic chess movie in a theater near you. Brooklyn Castle opened in NYC theaters on October 19 and is currently playing in select cities across the United States. The press and reviews for the film have been amazing.
Brooklyn Castle is now certified 'fresh' by Rotten Tomatoes.
Brooklyn Castle has got great reviews in the NY Times, LA Times and other places. Click on the photo to watch an interview on the Daily Show!
Teachers also get to see the documentary for FREE: Pick up the free tickets at this link.
MOVIE INFO Brooklyn Castle is the remarkable and improbable true story of I.S. 318 in Brooklyn. The school, where 65% of students live below the federal poverty level, has the highest ranked junior high chess team in the nation. The heart of the film is the engaging young students who populate the team: Rochelle, who has the goal of becoming the first female African-American chess master; Pobo, the team's charismatic leader; Justus, an entering student who must manage the high expectations that come with achieving master status at an early age; Alexis, who feels the pressure of his immigrant parents' desire for him to realize the American dream; Patrick, who uses chess to help overcome his ADHD; and James, the young rapping maestro and budding chess talent; among several others. Directed By: Katie Dellamaggiore In Theaters: Oct 19, 2012 Limited Read all previous Chess Blog posts on Brooklyn Castle here.
We would say, Brooklyn Castle is a chess movie to be watched twice over - once for the love of chess and once again for the love of children who play chess!
Rochelle Ballantyne: The African-American Chess Girl to Watch
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Steve Kastenbaum has done a nice interview for the CNN of the first African-American girl who is set to become a chess master. She is also the star of Brooklyn Castle. Here is the report along with the audio.
Rochelle Ballantyne plays chess the same way she walks through the streets of New York, determined to reach her goal without letting any obstacles slow her down.
The 17 year old from Brooklyn is just a few wins away from becoming the first female African-American to attain the ranking of chess master.
[:47] "I've never been the first anything so having that title next to my name is going to... it's going to feel amazing." Ballantyne grew up in a single parent home in the working class neighborhood of East Flatbush. She first learned to play chess from her grandmother, who didn't want that background to limit or prevent her from reaching her fullest potential. Ballantyne did not disappoint.
[2:47] "When I push myself, then nothing can stop me."
When it came time for middle school she wound up at I.S. 318, an inner-city public school that is home to the best chess team in the entire United States. Assistant Principal John Galvin oversees the chess program.
[4:53] "Rochelle was one of our best players that we've ever had in our school. She won several individual national championships."
Her time at the middle school is featured in Brooklyn Castle, a documentary about the chess team released earlier this week.
It's made her a rising star in the world of chess.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
This Saturday Oct. 27th, learn chess from the chess champs of I.S. 318! Brooklyn Castle star Justus will be teaching lessons at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center from 12-3pm on Saturday, Rochelle will be at the Sunshine Cinema from 2-4pm, Patrick will be teaching at Claridge Cinema, Montclair in NJ from 4:30-7pm and Alexis will be teaching at the The Pasadena Playhouse from 3:30 - 4:30pm in LA! Root for the five chess champs of Brooklyn Castle, in NY theaters now and CA theaters!
Check all our previous posts on Brooklyn Castle here.
NYC Chess Fans: Brooklyn Castle Movie Preview Oct 18, in Theaters Oct 19! <--- CANNOT MISS!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012 Hi everyone,
NYC chess fans – the new film Brooklyn Castle (www.brooklyncastle.com) opens in theaters starting this Friday, October 19. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, here's your chance! The Brooklyn Castle team is holding a very special sneak preview screening for chess groups and chess fans here in New York on Thursday, October 18.
Also, celebrate the opening of Brooklyn Castle at CHESSFEST next door to the Sunshine Cinema this Saturday, October 20! (See poster)
Brooklyn Castle – The Film is a documentary that follows five chess team members from I.S. 318 for one year, and documents their challenges and triumphs both on and off the chessboard. I.S. 318 has been consistently winning National Championships, positioning itself as one of the strongest chess teams in the country.
Jon Hamm tests Chess Skills at Brooklyn Castle Screening
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Jon Hamm tested his wits against a group of young chess masters at a screening of a new movie about the high school champions, according to ContactMusic. The Mad Men star and his partner Jennifer Westfeldt hosted a New York screening of new documentary Brooklyn Castle, which tells the story of how a group of students at a struggling inner-city school became U.S. national chess champions.
The young stars of the film attended the premiere at Manhattan's Soho House venue and boards were set up, prompting Hamm to take on young chess wizard Rochelle Ballantyne, according to New York Post gossip column Page Six.
The publication reports Hamm lost the game as the youngster "wiped the floor" with him.
The Chess Movie That's Must-See: Brooklyn Castle Releasing Oct 19
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
It's never too early to speak about a nice chess thing. Here's the official trailer of the chess movie Brooklyn Castle that we are waiting for. It will be in theaters October 19. You can read all about it in our previous Chess Blog post.
Brooklyn Castle – The Film is a documentary that follows five chess team members from I.S. 318 for one year, and documents their challenges and triumphs both on and off the chessboard. I.S. 318 has been consistently winning National Championships, positioning itself as one of the strongest chess teams in the country.
The film opened on June 1st in Brooklyn, New York to a sold-out crowd. Tickets were sold out for weeks, which proves that New York continues to be the chess capital of the United States.
The documentary was invited to screen at more than a dozen U.S. and international film festivals. The world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, in March won the Audience Award in the documentary category there. Since then, it's also earned the Audience Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival in California, and audiences voted it one of their Top 10 favorites (out of nearly 200 films) at Toronto's Hot Docs Film Festival.
Wednesday Chess Chat with Brooklyn Castle Director Katie Dellamaggiore
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here's another nice feature on the chess movie Brooklyn Castle. So aptly does Stefany Tomas write in the Austin Chronicle that "A two-hour documentary about a chess team sounds like a one-way ticket to snoozeville, however, Brooklyn Castle is the exact opposite. Katie Dellamaggiore was definitely onto something when she decided to make a film about Brooklyn’s Intermediate School 318’s competitive chess team." You can read the full article at the link and watch these nice videos - trailer and nice interview with director of the chess movie Katie Dellamaggiore.
Brooklyn Castle chess movie premieres to great reviews
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Chess movie Brooklyn Castle has premiered with some very nice reviews.
A review in www.statesman.com reads: An absolutely wonderfully-produced feature documentary filled with touching, inspirational stories of hope, ambition and perseverance. Brooklyn Castle is a documentary about I.S. 318 - an inner-city school where more than 65 percent of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level - that also happens to have the best, most winning junior high school chess team in the country. (If Albert Einstein, who was rated 1800, were to join the team, he'd only rank fifth best.) Chess has transformed the school from one cited in 2003 as a "school in need of improvement" to one of New York City's best. But a series of recession-driven public school budget cuts now threaten to undermine those hard-won successes.
Four years in the making, there's a broader narrative in Brooklyn Castle, and that is the economic crises which led to unprecedented public school budget cuts that jeopardize primary school education, and specifically the after school programs like that which is at the center of Brooklyn Castle's tale, and how the potential absence of that necessary funding could drastically affect the lives of the children who rely so heavily on them for sustenance. Read the full review at the website link.
You can access the official Brooklyn Castle website here.
Where's the best junior high school chess team in the nation? It's not at a private school or in some wealthy suburb. Instead, it’s at Brooklyn's Intermediate School 318, where the majority of students are low-income children of color. A new documentary called Brooklyn Castle follows members of the school's chess team for one year to show how the program has transformed the students and the entire school.
At I.S. 318, chess champions—not varsity athletes—are celebrities among their peers. The trailer above gives us a sneak peek at the incredible stories of the students on the team. Thirteen-year-old Rochelle, for example, is aiming to become the first black female chess master in the history of the game.
The film is a project of Rescued Media, a Brooklyn-based production company started by husband-wife filmmaking duo Katie and Nelson Dellamaggiore. The couple says that by featuring the five extraordinary teenagers, Brooklyn Castle serves as a "counterpoint to the tired notion that public schools—and public school students—can only fail." When budget cuts threatened to eliminate many of the I.S. 318’s most successful programs, including the chess program, the filmmakers decided to use the school's experience to represent that of countless schools where afterschool programs are on the chopping block despite boosting academic achievement and engagement.
In an effort to build national recognition of the I.S. 318 team and the challenges facing public schools, the Dellamaggiores are running aKickstarter campaign to raise $20,000 to hold screenings of Brooklyn Castle across the country. They're also organizing tournaments at which the I.S. 318 students will go head-to-head against chess players at Harvard, Columbia, and the Google campus "so the kids realize those places are within their reach, and word gets out that public schools across the country are suffering from the crushing effects of budget cuts." The fundraising campaign ends tomorrow, so if you're inspired by the stories of Rochelle and her classmates and want future I.S. 318 students to have the same opportunities, now's your chance to pitch in for the cause.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
Nicholas Fevelo for News
Yuxin Zhou plays chess at Intermediate School 318 in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Wednesday. Her championship-winning team is struggling to raise funds to attend competitions.
A Brooklyn middle school’s championship chess team is trying to avoid being checkmated by budget cuts. Students and faculty at Intermediate School 318 in East Williamsburg are frantically trying to raise as much cash as they can to keep funding their top-shelf chess team.
School officials said budget cuts and the economic slide have made it nearly impossible to make ends meet. “It’s kind of like a double whammy,” said Assistant Principal and chess team organizer John Galvin. “We don’t have the money and \[parents\] don’t have the money, but somehow we’ve got to make it happen.”
Galvin said he was able to use school funds to run the $100,000 program, which boasts 28 national championships, before the cuts started in 2008. Now, administrators need to come up with at least $60,000 to cover the costs.
Student chess players have already raised $12,000 from selling chocolate bars, and administrators were able to scrape together an extra $10,000 from private donations. Money has gotten so tight for the team that Galvin said he ran up an $8,000 tab on his credit card two weeks ago covering the team’s hotel and airfare on a trip to Dallas for a national competition. The team won in the eighth-grade division. You can read the full story here.
Brooklyn Castle - the lovely chess film about junior high with highest rated chess team in the US!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
We have an update about a nice chess documentary - Brooklyn Castle. It’s a great film about a low-income junior high school in Brooklyn that has the highest rated chess team in the whole country. Wow.
Here's the trailer from www.BrooklynCastle.com. They are also rolling out our outreach campaign (which will focus on getting more chess programs in schools throughout the country).
Brooklyn, New York’s I.S. 318 is a junior high school where over 65% of students are from homes living below the federal poverty level. It also has the best junior high school chess team, bar none, in the entire country. They win nearly every tournament they play in – and regularly beat out schools, and other students, with a lot more resources. Despite being underfunded and underserved, I.S. 318 is home to some of the highest ranked students in the country. In fact, if Albert Einstein, who was rated 1800, were to join the team, he’d be fifth best. We followed the lives of five of these amazing kids – Alexis, Justus, Patrick, Pobo and Rochelle – for a year and saw their triumphs and struggles, both on and off the chessboard, and marveled at how they handled both.
Brooklyn Castle is a documentary that is as much about the ability for public schools to do great things when they have the resources as it is about these five young lives. In 2003, I.S. 318 was listed as a “school in need of improvement.” Today, it’s one of New York City’s best, and its students matriculate to some of the most prestigious high schools in the country. The chess program has led the school to create a vibrant and varied afterschool program which John Galvin, assistant principal, credits with creating the “culture of success” at the school. But what we learned in making this documentary is that even with a staff that cares and students that work hard, a lack of resources can undermine even the most hard-won achievements. Budget cuts now seriously threaten the very existence of I.S. 318’s afterschool programs. The demise of these incredibly necessary programs is certain to have serious consequences for both I.S. 318 and its students.
WHERE WE ARE WITH THE FILM, AND HOW WE’RE USING IT:
Brooklyn Castle is near completion. We're raising these funds, partly, for the finishing touches that make a film look, feel and sound like a movie, and they include final music scoring, final animation, sound mixing, sound design and color correction. Once accepted into a film festival, we are launching a robust audience engagement and outreach campaign that has three goals: 1) to get people talking about how incredibly important afterschool programming 2) to inspire the creation of more afterschool programs in schools across the country and 3) to influence the resources that are allotted for these programs – a really timely goal, because in recessionary periods like the one we’re in now, these programs are the first to go. We’ve partnered with education organizations like the Afterschool Alliance, as well as chess organizations like the United States Chess Federation to mention just a couple. But we still have a lot of work to do. With the help of our partners, who know a lot more about this stuff than we do, we’re going to do a 10-city screening campaign which will target principals and administrators of underserved schools to inform them how to create and maintain chess and other quality afterschool programs at their schools. We’ll also give them tangible tool kits – including success stories, testimonials, and step-by-step guides – and discussion guides and DVDs for screenings at their schools and/or local community spaces. We’re designing a mobile app that will let people donate directly to schools in need of funds for their afterschool programs. And we’re working with local programs in cities throughout the country to get administrators and funders in rooms together, so they can talk about how incredibly important these programs are.
We are seriously and earnestly committed to the idea of having Brooklyn Castledo more than just tell a story – we really want it to have a genuine, positive impact, and we feel confident that if we work with people and organizations that share our goals, it will.
THE ASK:
You knew it was coming…
The thing is, all of this takes money. Not only the finishing touches to the film, but to pay for campaign materials – the paper, the printing, the DVDs – and travel to host these community screenings. We’ve done a lot so far with our own resources in order to start building this campaign and we’ve gotten help from people like the Fledgling Fund. We plan to use Kickstarter funds to keep the momentum of our campaign going strong – up until and extending beyond the premiere of the film. We would appreciate any help, at all, you would be willing to provide us. And thanks so much for your time!
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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The award-winning documentary Brooklyn Castle will air on PBS on Monday evening at 7 PM and will also be available online from Oct 8- Nov 6. Find more details and look up local listings at http://www.pbs.org/pov/brooklyncastle/. Also find a film discussion guide with bios, resources and background information on the film.
