BEGINNER CHESS FOR KIDS/ADULTS

Course Title: “Beginner Chess, Parts I and II“

This is a 4-session, in-person chess class, taught by experienced ACC Instructor Sue Foster in which students learn various introductory concepts and principles of chess. Kids' beginner classes are an hour in length and begin at 5:00 PM most Mondays. Adult beginner classes are also an hour in length. and begin at 6:15 PM most Mondays. Classes may be purchased and taken on an à-la-carte basis, subject to the notes below about Parts I and II.

A. General Considerations

One set of Beginner classes is for kids under the age of 14. Another set is for adults (which includes youth aged 14+).

Students that are new to chess should take the entire 4-week course. Students that have come back to chess after an absence might skip Part I and just do Part II, if they are experienced and understand the Part I concepts well enough. A discussion with the Instructor prior to skipping Part I is advised. Once a student has completed this course, they are usually ready to move on to one of our Intermediate courses.

Below are the topics potentially covered in this course. Lots of example chess positions/puzzles are always helpful. Depending on how students progress, this course could be taken again in a second stream with additional reinforcement of topics.

B. Topics Covered

The first two weeks comprises the following topics:

• The ruleset for chess including setting up the board, how pieces move, special moves such as castling, en passant and pawn promotion, check and mate.
• Pawns-only game.
• The relative value of the different pieces.
• The concepts of development, tempo and sacrifice.
• Elementary checkmating patterns.
• Dividing the game into sections—opening, middlegame and endgame.
• Principles of good and bad moves in the opening.
• A discussion about basic chess etiquette.

The last two weeks build on the introduction to chess by taking the student through a number of useful technical topics, such as:

• Positional chess basics—the middlegame.
• Basic tactics.
• Basic chess strategy.
• Basic endgames.

About Our Other In-person Courses

• Intermediate Chess for Kids/Adults
• Advanced Chess for Kids/Adults