Jeffrey Ashton

 TOM: The only move. Or only move. ATOM: Absolutely the only move.  Backronym:  noun an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin.

Hi! I've been teaching every day since March 19 (I didn't lecture on July 4, but we had tournaments). It's still a lot of fun. Been spending a lot of time with my wife and son. My son is 2.5 years old, and it's great to see him every day and watch him learn. 

I don't really talk about how I'm a National Master in chess.  I'm not sure why not.  Maybe it's modesty... but I don't think I'm that modest.  When people ask me about my chess level, I tell them I'm 2265. I am very careful, because I don't like it when people round up.  Recently I've noticed that people who come to Panda Chess Academy are surprised to know that I'm good at chess. And when I say recently, it's probably more like "within the last 6 years."  I realize that kids see me as like one of those dads who volunteer to coach an elementary school soccer team. I used to play elementary soccer and baseball, and it never occurred to me until now that those dad-coaches probably weren't athletes.  But yes, I'm a National Master. And I do remember being a kid, I really wanted to be a master. I got that goal in 70 tournaments (pretty sure it's like 60's, but again, I don't want to exaggerate). The number of tourna

One time a 1st grader (college now) wrote a thank you card. "Thank you for keeping your promises." I don't remember what promise I kept, but maybe it has something to do with having a party or something. But I try very hard to keep my promises, and sometimes I say "I promise - wait... I promise, that I don't forget... I will do it.. I will write it down!" Anyway, after a long day, I'm proud to remember that I kept a promise to send someone some opening notes (I don't think I had a deadline, but it feels so good to deliver on the promise early). It is the perfect finish to a good day.

1. Download the Google Classroom app (or visit http://classroom.google.com with your browser). 2. Enter the classroom code

Thursday January 30 Homework: Download your homework here:  https://1drv.ms/b/s!Au4xwApOTPtIhadV8_Z2M9wBHOINeg?e=YJfy8H

Class notes  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Du6ya1-jZcHHxwJgcr4uGsM5_jfu5TtDR4gf1unT5T8/edit?usp=sharing

Click here to see the games we discussed in class.