Weekly Chess @ Almaden Challenger

Day/Time : Friday

Kinder: 4:00 - 4:40

Grades 1-2: 3:15 - 3:55

Grades 3-5: 4:45 - 5:25

Dates:

1/12 - 5/24

No Class:

4/5

NO EXPERIENCE and NO EXPOSURE TO CHESS is assumed. Students will be assessed in the first 2 weeks of the class and split into beginner and intermediate groups. Students can take our free assessments HERE.

The structure of the class is divided into two segments in an one-hour period. In the first half hour, a coach gives a lesson on a theme, idea, motif, or classical game. Students participate by debating and attempting to find the best move in certain positions. Our homework is used to reinforce the chess concepts taught at this time. You can see our homeworks HERE.

In the beginner group, our primary focus is tactics, endgames, and identifying checkmating patterns. Homework is given to supplement the topics covered in class and reviewed the following week. We also review classical chess games to learn from the successes and failures of masters from previous eras. The class will cover basic pieces: Pawns, Knights, Bishops, Rooks, The Queens, and The King. In addition, the basic concepts such as Check, Checkmate, Castling, En Passant, and Draws. We cover these concepts using practical examples from the history of chess.

In the intermediate group, we will look at how chess has changed from era to era. We will be exploring games from the early 1800s to the late 1900s and discover the amazing history of this timeless game. We will learn about the heroes of chess from Paul Morphy to Bobby Fischer. We will also go over forks, pins, skewers, remove the guard, discover attacks, decoys, and sacrifices. We cover these concepts using practical examples from the history of chess.