Teaching Chess Archives

Teaching Chess

Teaching chess can be a rewarding volunteer opportunity, as you share your love of chess with schoolchildren or with people of all ages at a library chess club. Teaching chess can also be a part-time job or a career, as many parents pay for chess instruction. Like paying for music lessons or for participation in organized sports, paying for chess lessons is routine for many families.

International Chess Day: The Caro-Kann

In 2021, Gambit Publications published Win with the Caro-Kann. The authors, Norwegians Sverre Johnsen and Grandmaster Torbjørn Ringdal Hansen, recommend specific lines for Black. The book’s specialization is a plus if a reader is looking for a repertoire. It also is a useful guide to selected lines of the Caro-Kann Defense, if you are teaching chess for International Chess Day, July 20, 2021. More 🡢

Summer Chess Camps – Contest

Chess camps can be a great introduction to chess for beginners and give experienced players the skills they need to improve their chess results. Most chess camps are for children, but some camps are now open to adults too. FIDE Master and FIDE Trainer Kevin Bachler became involved in chess camps in 1996. This summer, Kevin is running two week-long camps, OleChess Camp in Minnesota and Caveman Chess Camp in Naperville, Illinois (Chicago area). Read on for Kevin’s tips for choosing a summer chess camp and for your chance to win a discount worth $200 to Kevin’s Caveman Chess Camp. More 🡢

The Knight’s Tour

The knight’s tour is recommended by GM Susan Polgar. In her free Chess Training Guide for Parents and Teachers, she wrote, “Try to jump with the Knight from one square to another covering all 64 squares on the chess board, landing only once on each square.” When I taught BayAreaChess students, some taking their first chess class and others rated up to 1000, I included the knight’s tour. More 🡢

Instructional Chess Books for Christmas 2018

In this article, I review two instructional chess books published in 2018. Either one would make a great Christmas present! One is aimed at teachers, the other at kids. But both books would benefit chess players of any age, who know the rules of chess, have played several complete games, but are still learning tactical themes. More 🡢

How to teach chess (part four) and the Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation

In this article (part four) and in my previous article (part three, which covered Monday, July 23 and Tuesday, July 24), I outline my lessons for these more advanced students. You can use these articles as a self-study guide (for improving your own chess). Or, if you are a chess teacher, you might try my outlined plans with your advanced students. More 🡢

How to teach chess (part two)

Teaching chess to groups can be tricky, as not everyone comes to class with the same background knowledge. In How to teach chess (part one), I shared lesson plans for two 1.5 hour sessions with a mixed group (absolute beginners in the same class with chess players with some experience). In this article, I share lesson plans for three more 1.5 hour sessions with mixed groups of students ages 8-13. More 🡢

How to teach chess (part one)

Since you are a chess player, you may be asked to teach chess to others. Teaching chess can be a rewarding volunteer opportunity, as you share your love of chess with schoolchildren or with people of all ages at a library chess club. Teaching chess can also be a part-time job or a career, as many parents pay for chess instruction. Like paying for music lessons or for participation in organized sports, paying for chess lessons is routine for many families. In this article and in my next article, I share lesson plans for five 1.5 hour sessions with a mixed group. More 🡢