Welcome to the Rookly Arkansas newsletter! This is your one-stop shop for Rookly news for Arkansas schools and students.

We were thrilled to run out first ever Arkansas Invitational in which dozens of students from over 20 different schools competed on Rookly. Thank you to everyone who made this possible! While some students who played compete in Rookly’s weekly leagues, the majority of participants tried Rookly for the first time. We hope to see your students competing on Rookly on a weekly basis moving forward!

Rookly teams are typically made up of schoolmates. As this tournament was open to all students in Arkansas, we decided to randomize teams. We created seven teams, and each fielded about 10 players. The teams were named after beautiful sites in Arkansas - maybe your students have been to a few of them!

We gauge Rookly Team scores by identifying the top 4 individual scores on a team and adding them together. Our final standings for the Arkansas tournament are as follows:

Final Standings

Next, let’s take a look at some of our top performing individuals:

Each student who participated played well, notching at least one victory. Almost every game we observed featured thoughtful moves, with planned openings, creative defense, and some clever tactics. The most popular opening move was e4, but the London System, Queen’s Gambit, and some knight openings proved popular as well.

We also noted some exciting, unique performances that didn’t quite find themselves in the top 10. For example, Lauren Y, a student in Gentry Public Schools, finished with one victory, one loss, but four draws! Meanwhile Joshua from Western Yell County Line HS played in Rookly’s longest games of the week, averaging 15 minutes per match and finishing with an even record.

Game of the Day

There were many great games that it was hard to choose just one! This game between Brooks M from Hemmed-In Hollow (White) and Kyler W from Pinnacle Mountain (Black) had it all—brilliant tactical shots, momentum swings, and a wonderfully spotted checkmate. Let’s check out some standout moments.

After move 6 from White, we can see this board start to take some shape. White definitely has more space to work with.

Let’s pick up from move 13. White played b4, throwing a question to the black queen. Black couldn’t resist taking White’s c2 pawn with the queen, but the computer prefers the move axb3—Black taking White’s b-pawn en passant!

In the fallout of a queen exchange, White found a beautiful fork with the knight on c7.

A few moves later, and Black’s repositioning of the dark square bishop paid off—White missed the threat on the a1 rook, and this position is now winning for Black.

After a late game castle for White, Black’s bishop on a1 was under threat. Black opted to capture with the rook on f5, leaving the bishop undefended and tilting this game back in White’s favor.

Despite a material deficit, Black continued to fight on by getting the knight developed and getting taking control of the g-file with the rook. Here’s a pivotal moment in the game where the white king was in check—would you move the king to f1 or h1?

In the game, White chose h1. Note that now the white king is completely trapped in the corner, since Black’s rook controls the g-file.

Black plays Nd3, throwing a punch at White’s rook on c1.

White counterattacks with Rd1, and while it’s a completely natural move, in this position it’s a mistake!

Black’s knight can now swoop in for the checkmate on f2! Extra style points here for forking White’s king and rook at the same time.

Congratulations and thank you to both Brooks and Kyler for such an excellent game. Check out the full game below:

Move of the Day

The Move of the Day goes to Arav A from Blanchard Springs (White) who spotted a great tactic in this game.

We join this game on move 11 after black has offered a queen exchange. Can you spot the winning idea for White?

Did you spot e5? This simple move does two things: it puts pressure on Black’s queen, and it unleashes a discovered attack from White’s bishop on g2 against Black’s bishop on b7, which is undefended. There’s simply too much for Black to defend here!

Black tries taking the bishop on g2.

White takes the queen on f6.

Black takes the rook on f1.

And after White recaptures on f1 with the king, this position definitively favors white.

Great work by Arav for spotting this brilliant tactic in the early game!

If there’s anything that you need help with this week please feel free to get in touch with Coach Matthias at Matthias@​rookly​.com.

Looking forward to great chess in the future!