championship Chess systematic way to build chess skills

Chess is Life
Bobby Fischer

Championship Chess® presents a systematic and fun way to build chess skills while students play. We tailor our classes to fit the needs of the students and the logistics of the school. Classes can begin just before or immediately after school; or, they can be woven into the school day. Each 1-hour class includes instruction, as well as time for games and guided analysis. Shorter classes for pre-K and Kindergarten students include hands-on activities, storytelling, movement and game playing. After the initial hour at many of our schools, we offer a second hour of more in-depth, small group instruction and/or Bughouse play and tournaments.

Enroll your student in a Chess Club here

Young students learning about chess pieces • Philosophy
Our team approach gives students the opportunity to have fun and make it easy for students to learn and want to study at home and in the club. Students

• Learn and apply chess tactics, strategies and problem solving that have been proven to transfer to academic and life skills. Improve student self-esteem and confidence in their chess skills so that they will participate to whatever extent they would like from playing with family and friends to competing in local, state and national tournaments.
• Participate in a supportive team atmosphere and develop skills that apply to competitive team play and cooperative learning situations. Use chess material online or in books and help them transfer this use to at-home study.

• Coaching Staff Student and Steve Schneider
Head Coach Steve Schneider has been a classroom teacher and chess coach for over 25 years. His players have ranked in the top 100 nationally and his teams have taken many state championships. Our team of teachers and coaches includes chess experts, as well as former elementary and middle school teachers who use their teaching skills to develop winning students.

• Learning Tools
Books and videos, part of our Scholastic Chess Series, provide a step-by-step blueprint for developing chess skills, from the basics to the endgame. These materials support learning within the clubs and are available for use at home, providing continued practice to students and giving parents the opportunity to learn along with their children. Materials for younger students were produced by early childhood educators and develop chess readiness, as well as reading and math skills.

• Goals
Students within our chess clubs are working toward goals based on their chess skills and abilities to understand key concepts.

• Readiness Group
Our youngest groups learn the names of pieces, how to set up the board and how each piece moves and captures. The students use movement, play pre-chess games — Pawn and piece games (more games played with the minor pieces and the Pawns; few games with the Rooks and Queens). They know how the King moves; but, in most cases, do not understand check, checkmate and stalemate.

• Beginning Players
These students focus on check, checkmate and stalemate, understand castling and its rules and are introduced to en passant. They work on opening theory, the Queen’s Raid and how to stop it, and basic notation. They play their first endgame: checkmate with 2 Rooks.

• Players
Our tournament competition players thoroughly understand Queen’s Raid and how to stop it, and work on 2 Knights and the Stonewall. They can checkmate with 1 Rook and King and 1 Pawn and King. We encourage them to attend evening chess clubs and tournaments that can gain them a national ranking. They have scorebooks and puzzle books.

• Advanced Players Tournament play
These players are taught by our expert and master coaches, who work with them to improve strategies and broaden their understanding of openings and endgames. We encourage all of our players to strive toward the next level of chess. Costs depend on number of students, number of meetings, time of day and location. We try to accommodate a variety of learners and work with schools and families to set up costs and logistics. Tournament Talk: We'll keep you informed. At the club and through e-mails we will make sure our club participants know what’s going on in chess locally, across Georgia and nationally.