Chess training and practice supports the student's development of many higher order thinking skills (HOTS)—like problem solving, decision making, critical and creative thinking, planning, and even spatial intelligence. Chess training and practice also helps them improve general cognitive ability and scholastic achievement—especially in mathematics.

In this class, students will continue their journey towards mastery of this 1500 year old game and will begin learning more advanced gameplay with the introduction of chess tactics. The lessons will be organized as follows:

Day 1 : Chess Tactics: Double Attack & The Fork

• Part 1 – Essential Tactical Knowledge: Double Attacks & The Fork
• Exercise 1 – Which Is It
• Exercises 2 and 3 – Knives & Forks
• Live Gameplay – Challenge the Instructor!


Day 2 : Chess Tactics: Learning to Pin & Skewer

• Part 1 – Winning Chess Tactics: Learning to Pin
• Part 2 – Breaking the Pin
• Part 3 – Winning Chess Tactics: Learning to Skewer
• Exercises 1 and 2 – Pin 'em & Skewer 'em
• Live Gameplay – Challenge Your Classmates!


Day 3 : Chess Tactics: Discovered Attacks & Double Checks

• Part 1 – Discovering Discovered Attacks in Chess
• Part 2 – More Discovered Attacks and Double Checks
• Exercises 1 and 2 – Use Your Discovery
• Live Gameplay – Challenge the Instructor!


Day 4 : Chess Tactics: Deflect, Destroy & Remove

• Part 1 – Removal of the Defender and Deflection
• Exercises 1 and 2 – Using Tactics to Win
• Live Gameplay – Challenge Your Classmates!

Day 5 : Review & Execute

• Part 1 – Open Q&A + Review
• Live Gameplay – Challenge Your Classmates!
• Game Analysis – Find Areas that Need Improvement


I will be teaching using lichess.org for gameplay and a soundpad with some wacky sound effects to help with retention. All exercises will be interactive, with students able to try different solutions to puzzles and cooperate with one another to find the best answer. This class is for those who already know the pieces and rules and also have a firm grasp on the fundamentals of the game. If you are completely new to the game, I suggest taking the Beginner Levels 1 & 2 Courses before enrolling in this course. 

You can find the Level 1 Course here:
https://outschool.com/classes/dark-horse-tactics-intro-to-chess-for-beginner-level-1-dxaYlQH5#uszqDwNCV9

And you can enroll in the Beginner Level 2 Course here:
https://outschool.com/classes/dark-horse-tactics-intro-to-chess-for-beginner-level-2-MtdpR0Vz#uszqDwNCV9