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 complete their knowledge of its fundamentals. The lessons will be organized as follows:

Day 1 : How to Win a Chess Game

• Part 1 – Destroying the Enemy and Counting Attackers Defenders
• Part 2 – The Special Move in Chess
• Exercises 1 and 2 – Castling Quizzes
• Exercise 3 – Is It Defended?
• Exercise 4 – Doggy-Pile Quiz
• Exercise 5 – Who's Hanging


Day 2 : Super Pawns: “En Passant”

• Super-Pawns: “En Passant” Explained
• Exercise 1 – Can You Capture En Passant?
• Review Game vs the Instructor!


Day 3 : Starting Out a Chess Game: Opening Principles

• Part 1 – The Basics of Development and Queen Play in the Opening
• Part 2 – Advanced Development: Controlling the Center; Connecting the Rooks; and Playing with a Purpose
• Exercise 1 – Connect the Rooks
• Exercise 2 – Counting Development

Day 4: Opening Challenge

• Complete an Opening Phase under strict conditions


Day 5 : The “Quick” Mates & Other Basic Checkmates

• Part 1 – “Fools Rush In", the “Fidgety King”, the “Knight's Dream”, "Scholar's”, and the "Other Four Move Checkmate" 
• Part 2 – Other Basic Checkmate Ideas and Patterns
• Exercises 1 and 2 – Famous Checkmates
• Exercise 3 – Guarding f2 and f7


Day 6-8 : Phases of the Game, Planning, & Your Opponent

• Part 1 – The Three Phases of a Chess Game
• Part 2 – Learning the Basics of “Planning” in Chess
• Part 3 – Why Did My Opponent Move There?
• Exercises 1 and 2 – Checks and Captures
• Exercise 3 – Attack the Queen!
• Exercise 4 – Why Did They Go There?

Day 9-10: Review & Play

• After a brief Overview, students will pair up and play games against each other


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 know the pieces and have already learned the basic rules of the game.

If you are completely new to the game, I suggest taking the Beginner Level 1 Course 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