Scholastic Chess Cirriculum

Hey I was wondering what cirriculum (if any) do you chess coaches use in a scholastic setting. The only one I know of is Lev Alburt's course, but I'm looking into what I want to use next year.

Thank you!

Thanks. I'll check it out. :)

I'll awaken this thread again to see if you can get more answers.

Thank you. I thought there would be more chess coaches on this site who could at least tell me what they use.

I started teaching in an after-school program last year.  I'm actually surprised that the company who organises it doesn't have more of a pre-planned lesson plan.  They leave things up to the teachers pretty much.

Day one of the class, I ask who already knows how to play, how all the pieces work, etc.  This is so I can work with the new players seperate, at least until they know how all the pieces move, how check and checkmate work, etc.

After that, I tend to teach them about basic opening theory, and basic to mid-level tactics. and we repeat that a lot. 

I also try to teach basic Queen/King vs King and Rook/King vs King endgames, and I always do at least one or two lessons on how to promote the pawn in a King/Pawn vs King endgame.  Promoting the pawn seems to be a hard one for them to understand.

I have a feeling that if I continue teaching, I'll end up with a checklist of some sort for each student to make sure everyone knows at least these basics.

Something sort of like this.

• Understands piece movement and capturing.
• Understands pawn movement and capturing.
• Understands pawn promotion
• Understands castling.
• Understands check.
• Understands checkmate.
• Understands stalemate
• Can mate with King/Rook vs King
• Can promote the pawn with King/Pawn vs King
• Understands En Passant
• Understands forks
• Skewers
• Pins
• Discovered attacks
• Basic opening theory

A check list. That's a great idea! Thanks.

Three weeks ago, I have started six elementary and middle school chess clubs in the Stockton & Lodi, California.

It's my first time doing it and I just "winged" it.

I started the chess classes by asking the student chesssplayers why they want to learn chess and get good at it.  It got the student chessplayers excited and I got many exciting and interesting responses.

I also pointed out that there is a Male World Champion and a Female World Champion, as well as, Jr Male World Champion and a Jr Female World Champion.

Also, I mentioned that in the scholastic chess, trophies are being awarded to the tournament winners, and in professional chess, chessplayers do win or make money, although it is not as lucrative as other sports like basketball, football, or baseball.

My classes went through the basics and so far, my student chessplayers are still very much enthusiastic.

www.professorchess.com has some free / paid teaching material. 

After school club, grades 3-8, once a week.

I've found it extremely difficult to stick to any kind of curriculum because of the different levels of the players and the different speeds at which they acquire new knowledge. At the beginning of each year I tend to have 25 kids signed up for the afterschool club

-7 or 8 of those players are on the scholastic team and can play quite well.

-5 or 6 can play without much assistance (they might need me to confirm a mate or to resolve an illegal move)

-5 or 6 know how the pieces move and are happy to push the pieces around the board making illegal move after illegal move until someone blunders away their king.

-5 or 6 have never played before.

So I obviously need to start with those who have no idea how to play, because they need 100% of my time as opposed to the others who need maybe 10% or 30%.

I've been putting the younger ones (3rd and 4th graders) who don't know how to play on computer games to learn the moves - Fritz and Chesster Learn to Play Chess and Dinosaur Chess - for a few sessions.

The older ones (5th-8th graders) who don't know how to play generally pick up the rules very quickly (and also don't want to play those games since they are aimed at the younger player), so I give them 10 min lessons and then pair them with someone their age who knows how to play and is happy to whup them.

Then I can focus on those kids who think they know how to play but are truly misguided. I like the idea of using a checklist and have tried checklists in the past, but I think mine were too elaborate and difficult to maintain. I will try a simpler one next week when my club starts again.

I am a big fan of the Lev Alburt series for teaching. However, in teaching school programs weher he class meets once a week, you have to consolidate the program. With private students, I use a modified version of the Comprehensive Chess Course. I like the books because they have some exercises that work the student's brains. The course is also nicely laid out. I'm now teaching chess full time with half of that time in public schools. The first thing I do is access my students. I teach for two chess programs, one of which trained Nicholas Nip early on. Many chess programs are a bit loose. However, both the chess academies I work for have a structured program. I give out weekly homework and extra assignments, so I expect some commitment from my students.

I start them with basic opening priniciples for the first semester rather than the memorization of specific openings. As they develop and get a basic grasp of the opening principles, we introduce specific openings. We also concentrate heavily on tactical devices and strategies. Because each student is different, you have to tailor individual plans rather than a total "one size fits all" plan. What kind of time table are you working with?

Hi,

I've been teaching my students chess during and after school for the past couple of years. I agree that sticking to a set lesson plan is difficult. This semester I'm actually adding chess to my regular curriculum and teaching it within my classes.

I have four science classes and a computer class (grades 9-12). I try to work chess into each period even if it's just a quick puzzle, but I am really looking for a solid lesson planned curriculum to use with next year's freshman. Ideally I'd like to find a curriculum with either very affordable workbooks or something I can photocopy pages from legally.

I am also considering purchasing smaller analysis sized sets for all the incoming freshmen(22) next year. These sets are a bit more portable and they fit on student desks better.

Two things I've learned while trying to teach chess here in Haiti are, (1) if you want your students to understand and use notation, teach it from the beginning. Trying to get students to notate games later hasn't been easy. (2) if I want students to have access to it, be it a chess set, score book, anything, I have to provide it. They want to learn and they like to play but they have no leeway in the lives to buy anything.

Hey Scott! Here's a website that offers free worksheet downloads. You can download these one page problem sets:

http://www.knowchess.com/hw_checkmates.htm

They allow the use of their downloads so its completely legal. I agree that chess notation is crucial to learning. It also helps introduce the basic concepts of algebra as well. I have a large collection of PDF books as well so let me know if you need any. Also try writing the United States Chess Federation or the Kasparov Chess Foundation and see if they'll send you some free chess sets for your students. If you need anything, just send me a message!!

Thanks for the idea to contact the Kasparov Foundation and the USCF. I've sent them each an email, maybe they can help us out. Also, thanks for the link to KnowChess.com. I've been looking for something just like this, single-page handouts that can be used as bite-sized premade activities. I can teach a short lesson and we can use the page to build on the understanding.

I have a couple of family members visiting me in March that will be bringing me some supplies. I was thinking of having them pick up a couple of chess books. If you had to pick only two or three chess books what would they be?

One book that we all seem to agree on is "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess."  I like the book because it is a book of decent chess problems for beginners without being too overly complicated. The "Comprehensive Chess Course" by Lev Alburt is a wonderful series of six volumes that take a person from beginner to club player quickly. I am a hardcore student of the Russian School so I really enjoyed the Lev Alburt series.

I tend to really push the basic opening prinicples rather than forcing my students to memorize specific openings and defending against them. Too often, you only have a small amount of time to introduce a student to the complexities of chess. Many beginners who memorize specific openings get destroyed when their opponents throw them a variation they haven't covered. My chess coach had me work on the basic opening principles, working on tactics and the end game play rather than specific openings.

I review my games and notice that my opnnents follow specific openings that give them a small advantage in the beginning but cost them going into the late-middlegame/endgame. Of course, I still lose my share of games, but rarely is is do to a poor opening (even though there are a few openings that I played poorly since I am by no means a great player). I'll try to come up with some other book suggestions this week.