For teachers and coaches

Before the first lesson

Who is it for?

Chess club or all-day school: usually 8 to 16 children. Taking part is voluntary.
School class: up to 28 children. Each method says what changes in a large class.

Which level?

The level matches the school year: Level 1 for year 1, Level 2 for year 2, and so on up to Level 5 for year 5.

A child who has never played chess starts with Level 1, whichever year they are in. Beginners from year 3 onwards can already write. These children write their moves down in Level 1 and 2 as well.

A group works in one level only. Do not mix levels. The group moves to the next level with the new school year. One workbook is enough for a school year, and there is time left over. Use that time for more games. No child joins a higher-level group later. New children start in a Level 1 group.

Exception, school class

When a new child joins the class, they work with the Level 1 workbook, even if they already know some chess. Next school year they continue with Level 2. A helper child supports them. The helper’s partner works in a group of three for that time. During playing time the new child and the helper play the pawn game on their own board and do not take part in the partner change. The helper stays the same until the new child can manage alone. Check after four weeks: can the child solve their exercises alone and explain them? Then they no longer need a helper. The new child sits at the helper’s table. In The team cup, The advice relay, The chess treasure hunt and The variation tree the new child works alone in their workbook; the helper works with their partner again, and the table is back to two pairs. Listen carefully to the new child in every lesson – in addition to the children on the chart. They do not take part in contests.

Workbook or board?

Level 1 and 2: the children work almost only in the workbook. Instead of writing, they draw arrows (older beginners write the move as well).
From Level 3: the children also set up exercises on the board and try moves.

What you need

For each child: workbook, pencil, coloured pencil, a sheet for covering, a plastic sleeve with the sheet Empty diagram – six empty boards – and a wipe-clean pen.
For every two children: one chessboard.
For you: a large board for showing, a projector or a document camera. Check from the back row that everyone can see.

You do not need chess clocks.

Solutions and preparation

With the workbooks you get access to a solutions area on the internet. Solve every exercise yourself before the lesson and compare with the solutions area. If you do not understand an exercise, choose another.

For four methods, note something on the Planning sheet beforehand:

Thinking aloud together: a move that looks good but is wrong – and why it is wrong.
Is that really true?: the claims (at least one of them false) – and why the false ones are false.
Attacker and defender: the defender’s important moves and when an attempt ends.
The variation tree: the solution with the opponent’s two good replies, and briefly why other replies do not help.

The first lesson

Decide who works with whom and who sits at which table (see Organisation).
Practise the signals for “quiet” and “pencils down”.
Show the cover sheet and the coloured pencil.
Then: The piece cinema, The thinking trail with easy exercises, and a short time for playing.

If the children do not know the pieces yet, they work through the first pages of the workbook instead and then play the pawn game. The first lesson does not count towards the Plan for four weeks.

How you start after that

For the first weeks, The thinking trail and Thinking in pairs work well. You introduce a new topic with Thinking aloud together. The times are for a group that is used to the routine. At the beginning everything takes a little longer – shorten the playing time then.