Chess Tournament!

This 90-minute experience is for learners with strong previous experience with chess (such as completing our Beginner course or beyond, or having other background including at least a thorough understanding of the rules of piece movement including castling, and the ability to play a game towards Checkmate), who would like to see what it’s like to play competitively.  

Students will be paired against each other in timed virtual games of chess, and progress through four tournament rounds of Swiss-style pairings (no one is ever eliminated from the tournament, no matter how many times they lose).  Each round will have a time control of 10 minutes per player.  

The instructor will spend the first few minutes of the class teaching about the most common conventional practices and formats of competitive chess tournaments, how timed chess games differ from traditional chess games, and other related concepts.  During the tournament rounds the instructor will assist each of the pairings of students with confusing and unfamiliar situations (objectively and without bias towards either competitor), but will provide coaching on these types of specific scenarios in-between rounds when possible, elaborating after the fourth round for the benefit of all of the students, before announcing the winner(s) and celebrating their accomplishment, and celebrating the rest of the participants’ achievements as well.