Beginner Chess Academy

“Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.” – Blaise Pascal

This class is for beginner chess players who want to level up their existing chess skills. 

In these ongoing lessons, we will meet once a week to learn basic chess concepts and strategies which will help to win more chess games and achieve a greater understanding of the game. I will emphasize the importance of sportsmanship and having the growth mindset to keep improving at chess beyond this class, which can be applied to many other aspects of life.

Classes will be a combination of theory, puzzles, and live games to practice what we are learning. The course is curated such that students can jump in at any point of the cycle. 

We will be doing puzzles and playing our live games every week on www.lichess.org. A free account is required to play games. It would also be great but not necessary if your learners know how to copy and paste links, and share their screens on Zoom.

==================== Course Syllabus ==================== 

Learners will need to sign up for a free Lichess (lichess.org) account, which will be required to play games. Here are some example lessons.

Lesson: The Blunder Check
Lesson: Opening Fundamentals
Lesson: Board Vision
Lesson: Forks
Lesson: Pins
Lesson: Skewers
Lesson: Discovered Attacks

Each class simply requires that learners are familiar with how pieces move, and learners can join at any time.

==================== About the Teacher ==================== 

I fell in love with the game of chess when my dad first taught me to play when I was 7 years old. To this day, it is a precious pass-time that we share. I went on to become the regional elementary champion and participated in the Canadian University Chess Championship as part of the University of Toronto team. I currently hold a rating of about 1900 and would love to share my passion for chess with anyone willing to learn. I encourage a growth mindset in all my classes - to take every win and loss as an opportunity to learn and improve.

♟️ Chess is a fun game that is easy to learn, but can take a lifetime to master.  Chess teaches critical thinking, logic, problem-solving, patience, and mindfulness. These lessons are meant for players who are at the beginning of their chess journey, who know how to move pieces, but have limited understanding of strategy and fundamental concepts such as tactics and openings.