Success of scholastic chess players at the State or National level is ultimately the result of the young player having talent, a strong work ethic and solid fundamentals. So, to prepare one of my talented students for the National Online Scholastic Quick Championship, I spent some time this afternoon reviewing the fundamental checkmates with them.Continue reading “Teaching the Fundamentals”
Tag Archives: teaching chess
Fog of War
Chris Torres and his student Nico play through the Fog of War on chess.com. Also known as Dark Chess, Fog of War is a popular chess variant where players can only see what is contained on the squares their pieces are threatening. Though new to Fog of War, Chris thinks out loud while developing strategiesContinue reading “Fog of War”
Facilitative Ball Sharing in Chess
Basketball fans throw around terms like “ball hogs” and “facilitators”. A poor point guard, for example, will “hog the ball” attempting to be the star to the detriment of the team. A good point guard is a facilitator for the entire team setting the plays and passing the ball to a teammate with the bestContinue reading “Facilitative Ball Sharing in Chess”
#Chess Position Worth Sharing 133
Tonight I finished a long day of teaching chess by presenting an absolutely superb mating combination played by the first World Chess Champion. A brilliant positional player, particularly in his later years, Wilhelm Steinitz rose to prominence in the mid-nineteenth century as a dangerous attacker in the romantic style of chess that had been popularisedContinue reading “#Chess Position Worth Sharing 133”
The Importance of Setting Lofty Goals in Chess
One of my most successful coaching techniques is encouraging my chess students to set lofty goals for themselves. Together we break these goals into attainable steps and utilize achievement markers to show progress. Of course, certain levels of chess expertise are not achievable for everyone and if they were, chess would be obsolete. For instance,Continue reading “The Importance of Setting Lofty Goals in Chess”
My Quora answer to: “How do you get paid for teaching chess?”
The first obvious requirement for earning money teaching chess is that you need to be able to play chess well. This of course doesn’t mean that you have be a grandmaster level chess player but you do need be able to teach from a position of authority which means that you should at least beContinue reading “My Quora answer to: “How do you get paid for teaching chess?””
Teaching Chess Improves Chess Creativity
Last night after a long day teaching chess which culminated with a private lesson for chess prodigy Ben Rood, I came home and decided to relax by playing a couple blitz games on FICS. As usual, I won a couple and lost a couple. In the past I have noticed that I have more creative ways of handling routineContinue reading “Teaching Chess Improves Chess Creativity”