My philosophy for chess in the classroom is twofold. The first is that students should have fun and, most importantly, devolop skill sets that apply beyond chess. Frankly, many students will perhaps play chess for a time and then move on to other things, but the skills they learn will carry with them their entire lives. The second is that chess class should be a positive place for students to apply their minds.

I furthermore believe that patience and unconditional positive reinforcement is the most successful attitude to have as an instructor.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Hello everybody,

It is most appropriate that I first point out Kudos for this week- I can honestly say that the cleanup help I received from all of the students after class on Wednesday was the best display of willing help I have ever had in a chess class. At the beginning of the class I shared with them the example of Dhruv from the previous week, and apparently all the students were inspired! So, thank you to every student who was eager and willing to help last week, that was wonderful.

Tournament games went really well again- the students are concerned about following the Tournament rules, which will especially help them when it comes time for their actual first tournament. I have started what is called a tournament ladder, which is where I track the tournament points and rank the kids based on how many tournament points they have received. Starting next week I will begin posting the ladder online.

1. The Watermelon group got started on learning about check today, and the ABC's of getting out of check. Here's what the ABC's of check are:

A: run your king Away out of check
B: Block the check with another piece
C: Capture the piece that is checking you

Also remember that when in check, we usually count our ABC's backward (there are always exceptions of course, but often the this is a good formula to use when trying to relieve yourself of check):
  1.  First look and see if you can Capture the piece that is checking you.
  2. If you cannot capture, see if you can safely Block the piece that is checking you
  3. If you cannot capture, and if you cannot (or it is not safe to) Block, simply move your King out of check. It is especially important to use run Away as a last resort if your King has not castled- if the King has not castled and then you move it, you can no longer castle and protect your King.
I think put 6 position on the board and the students had to decide for each position which was the best way to get out of check. After discussing the ABC's of check, I introduced castling to the kids. Next week we will discuss castling in more detail, as well as Pawn Shields.

2. The Library group played their tournament games and then we went over our lesson. The lesson was essentially the same as the Watermelon group, however I also discussed Checkmate- when ABC's do not help you get out of check, and your King is trapped. I put 7 puzzles up on the board (harder puzzles than the Watermelon group), and the students had to first decide whether it was Checkmate or not, and if not they had to decide the best way to get out of check.

Both groups did an excellent job and grasped the ideas in the lesson very well.

See everybody Wednesday!
Coach Tyler
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