Parents, regarding Chess group activity sessions --
Read Carefully! Very Important!
IF your child CAN correctly answer AT LEAST 8 of the following 12 questions with ease -- they are NOT a Beginner and should be signed up for a Chess Power-Hour, so we can properly place them into a Class Activity Group Session.
​
During a Power-Hour for students that CAN answer 8+ questions--
An instructor will evaluate a student's knowledge and skill to place the student into either an Intermediate or Advanced curriculum, with the remaining time being used as a 1-hour crash-course to teach them as much as possible before they begin weekly 1- or 2-hour group activity sessions.
​
​
If a student CAN'T answer at least 8 questions with ease, they are currently an Intro/Beginner student.
Most students complete the Intro/Beginner course in an average of 6 weeks when attending once a week, AFTER WHICH they would be suited to continue into Beginner-Intermediate.
​
If your student correctly answers at least 4 questions, OR -- If you have any concerns regarding if your student is ready to begin classes, or if they'll like the classes -- we encourage you to sign them up for a Free Power-Hour as well!
​
​
Parents --
Use the below list of Questions to VERBALLY QUIZ your students in order to attain a Realistic measurement of his/her actual knowledge:
1) Question: How do you tell if the Chess board orientation is correct in relation to the players?
ANSWER: Each player should have a white square on their right hand side. BONUS: If the board has letters and numbers, then the person playing the White pieces should also have the square A1, while both players also should have a white square on their right-hand side.
​
2) Question: Do you know the names of all the pieces?
ANSWER: Pawns, Rooks, Knights, Bishops, Queens, Kings.
​
3) Question: Do you know which area of the board is the most important to occupy/control?
ANSWER: The 4 Center Squares.
​
4) Question: Do you know the difference between King-side and Queen-side castling?
ANSWER: The King-side is a short castle and the Queen-side is a long castle. In other words, the King guards all three shield pawns when King-side castling, but only two of the shield pawns when Queen-side castling.
​
5) Question: Do you know the difference between Check and Checkmate?
ANSWER: Check means the King is in Danger. Checkmate means the King is completely Trapped with no safe squares available to move to.
​
6) Question: If you are in Check, how many potential ways might you get out of check?
ANSWER: Potentially up to 3 ways: Capturing the piece that is causing the check, Blocking the check, or Moving the King out of check.
​
7) Question: Do you know what it means to Develop your Pieces?
ANSWER: Developing pieces means the major and minor pieces on the back rows at the start of the game have been re-positioned to more favorable and active squares, safely.
NOTE & FUN FACT: Pawns are NOT Pieces! Pawns are just Pawns until they promote to become a major or minor piece!
​
8) Question: Do you know how many points the pieces are worth?
ANSWER: Pawns = 1 point each, Knights = 3 points each, Bishops = 3-3.5 points each, Rooks = 5 points each, Queens = 9 points each, Kings = All of the points -- the whole game!
​
9) Question: Do you know how to write down your moves on a Chess Notation scoresheet?
ANSWER: If they do, they understand the basic beginnings of algebraic notation, and they are beginning to use it to record their moves in order to study their games to identify their mistakes, thereby learning and improving towards constant progress.
​
10) Question: Can you name and define at least 3 Chess Tactics?
ANSWER: Students that have completed the Intro/Beginner course can name and define: Forks, Battery/Battering-Ram, Castling, X-Rays, Pins, Skewers, Discoveries, Double Check, Pawn Promotion, Remove the Defender, & En Passant
​​
11) Question: Can you explain Stalemate?
ANSWER: In stalemate, it is a person's move but because of the position, they have no legal move and so the game is stuck. No winner. Tie game. Half a point to each player.
​
12) Question: Can you name at least 2 Checkmate patterns?
ANSWER: Students who have completed the Intro/Beginner course can name and recognize: Fool's Mate, Scholar's Mate, Back-Rank Mate, Magic-Square Mate, Smothered Mate, and Ladder/Steamroller/Major Mate.
​
​
TO RECAP:
Parents -- IF your K-12 Student CAN'T answer AT LEAST 8 of the above 12 questions -- The appropriate starting point in Chess is to please enroll them into the Intro/Beginner Class at a Location, Day, and Time of your preference.
​
If however they CAN correctly answer AT LEAST 8 of the above 12 questions -- Please sign them up for a FREE CHESS POWER-HOUR so we can correctly place them into an Intermediate or Advanced group.