Chess Camp Topics

Chess Tactics: Group solving for challenging puzzles (teamwork makes the dream work!), and written worksheets for individual practice (repetition is the mother of learning!).

Being Clutch: Staying calm and focused during games. Players of all ages and all levels get excited when there is a negative or positive change in the game. We will look at examples of Master level chess players getting knocked off balance by a surprise in their game, and how they refocus instead of spiraling out of control.

Opening Repertoires: We will work on creating opening repertoires and building upon them. Students should have at least one repertoire for White, and one for Black. Knowing what you don't know, consistently filling in the gaps, fixing leaks, and improving your repertoire one move at a time. 

Evaluating a chess position: Who stands better and why? Asking this rhetorical question during lectures helps students better understand the game being discussed. Players asking themselves this question during a game play better and make fewer rushed moves and fewer blunders. Who has better king safety, material, pawn structure, and piece Play. Is the position static or dynamic? 

Spotting tactics during real games: Noticing targets like loose (unprotected) pieces, exposed kings, and more. "My child solves tactics well on the computer, but not so well while playing games." We will help the students become better at looking for winning moves and striking while the iron is hot.

Prophylactic Thinking: Prophylactic thinking, or prophylaxis, is when you think about what your opponent is trying to do. Often it is best to prevent your opponent's plan, and sometimes it's best to allow it.  

Formulation of plans and strategies: What's the best plan? What are my options? What are my opponent's best plans? Should I stop my opponent's plan or allow it? When practicing chess, having a bad plan is arguably better than having no plan at all, since students learn from their mistakes. We will encourage the habit of planning. In practice chess games: Good plan > bad plan > no plan. Note that we will only be teaching and suggesting GOOD plans. 

Candidate Moves: During lectures, we will show a position and ask students to give 3-4 candidate moves or more, and choose wisely. The goal is to get students in the habit of using candidate moves more often when playing their games. Kids naturally know how to think this way. You can see this when they are considering which ice cream flavor they want to eat. Students and most players don't consciously use candidate moves for every single turn in a chess game, but we encourage students to do this when facing a Critical Position.

Critical Positions: Recognizing positions where the correct move will determine if you win, lose, or draw. This is when players should use a lot of clock time, energy, and patience. Average players have a lazy "I'll just trust my gut" and "you win some and then you lose some" attitude. We strongly discourage rushing through these key moments and get good habits about taking these moments very seriously.

Chess Clock (time management): Play slower! Use your time by thinking more, evaluating positions, having plans and strategies, using candidate moves, and just thinking more deeply. Students with active minds who play too quickly will have some games where they are surprised to see how much time they used. We recognize and celebrate those who use about 90% of their clock time, or show improvement in time management. We encourage students to play at their own speed, and not try to match the speed of your opponent. Students should play at their own speed, and control the tempo of the game.

Endgames: We will look at endgames with a few pieces on the board, and endgames with many pieces on the board. We will have lectures with informal endgame quizzes, where students can volunteer to solve endgame puzzles.

Game analysis/feedback: Often a student wins a game even after making mistakes, and this is how bad habits begin. We will analyze wins and losses. Students will observe how a Master analyzes the game first using natural chess thinking, and then using a computer engine (artificial intelligence) last. Students will also see how the teacher uses opening databases to learn more "book moves" or improving their opening repertoire "one move at a time."

Chess software: Using free and easily accessible technology to research, memorize opening moves, and self-study using a computer (while the competition is plopped out on the couch "studying" YouTube on their phone).

Openings: Students will learn opening theory (memorizing good moves in the beginning of a chess game) and we will discuss how openings transition to the middlegame and endgame. Students will be shown example games played in their openings. One of the best questions a student can ask a strong chess player is "what do you play against _____." We will encourage students to ask this question during camp (and email these questions after camp hours). We are pretty good at observing games and answering this question for the students without them asking.

How to play well, consistently: Play your best against weaker players. Don't play the person, play the board. Have positive expectations against stronger players. Many chess players are pessimistic ("I'm going to lose!") when paired against a strong player. Many players groan about tough pairings, or cringe when they are told to "be positive." We might ask the student to be "cautiously optimistic" instead of pessimistic, or what they consider is realistic. We consistently ask kids to not to say things like "oh no, I'm going to lose." 

How to Practice: Practice like you are playing a real game! Don't be too casual when playing friends. "Prior planning prevents poor performance." "Everyone has the will to win, but very few have the will to prepare to win." "Practice doesn't necessarily make you perfect, but perfect practice makes you pretty, prettehhhh good!"