Excelsior Chess holds weekly team workouts at each of our schools. The workouts last for one hour and are made up of interactive, Socratic-style teaching and instructional play. During all phases of each practice session, using the criteria set forth by our curriculum, a 6-tiered, multi-year comprehensive instructional program that covers all skills from beginner to advanced, the “Five R’s of Chess” and Excelsior Chess’ Core Values, players are awarded points for instructional participation, playing skill and good sportsmanship. The top three players by point totals will receive first, second or third place awards, while the remaining players will receive participation awards.
Chess Theory
Excelsior Chess’ tiered curriculum is comprised of six levels (Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen and King) and provides comprehensive instruction on all levels of chess theory, from beginner to advanced tactics, strategy and board visualization. Each team workout begins with a review of chess theory already learned followed by the introduction of new material. Players have the opportunity to reinforce theory by completing between 12 to 24 chess puzzles each week. Depending on the aptitude and motivation of the player, a level can be completed in approximately one academic year, with the exception of the Pawn-level, which takes less.
The Five R’s of Chess
READING – During each workout’s instructional time, players will have the opportunity to read and solve chess puzzles that are part of the Chess4Life program. Ideally, each child will also spend some time outside of scheduled practices reading and working puzzles.
WRITING – Early during training, as their nascent analytical and playing skills improve, players learn to write their moves using the “algebraic notation” that is the standardized manner to record chess games. Recording chess moves has a number of benefits for players, including the resolution of disputes during a game and having a record of the game to facilitate analysis after the fact. Moreover, the ability to record moves during a game is required for participation in a US Chess Federation sponsored tournament.
ARITHMETIC – In addition to having discrete moves, each chess piece is assigned a point value; one point for Pawns, three points for Bishops and Knights, five points for Rooks and nine points for Queens. The King of course, is worth the entire game. Each player must understand the arithmetic of chess not only in order to keep score when pieces are captured, but also to help them understand the loss, gain or equality that is realized when pieces are captured in an exchange. Moreover, players need to understand that the worth of a piece is not limited to its numeric value, but is further defined by the location on the chess board, the proximity of opposing pieces as well as at what point in the game one is at (all referred to as Positions of Material Equivalence – PME).
REASONING – Chess is a game of the mind that develops long and short-term memory, critical thinking and pattern recognition skills. Our young players are taught and study analytical, tactical and strategic tools, which they are expected to employ in every game that they play. Decisions are made on the basis of critical analysis and tactics, not emotions. And yet, playing chess on a chess team, like life, involves social interaction and responsibility. Thus, the reasoning process also includes the Core Values that each player learns, insofar as their social decision-making is defined and guided by these values.
RESPONSIBILITY – Chance has no place on the chess board. Children learn very quickly that there is virtually no element of chance in the game, and if they lose, it is simply because they were out-thought. It is expected that every player will take responsibility for their failures, acknowledge their mistakes, learn from them and take steps to see that they are not repeated. Players also learn that taking responsibility in chess, as in life, means that we don’t have unrealistic expectations about outcomes, and not to fear or be shamed by losses. Defeats are poison to some of us. Great people have become mediocre because of their inability to accept defeat. Many have become great because they were able to rise above defeat. If our young players should achieve any kind of success and develop superior qualities as they mature, the chances are it will be because of the manner in which they meet the defeats that will come to them, as they come to all of us.
