"If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe."
Abraham Lincoln
A little step every day, adds up to big results.
I can go on and on and on about the importance of practice in improving your game, but I will not. Because I know as a parent or as a student, you have already seen how hours of practice eventually help you to get through the toughest of exams.
All the hard work that you put in working on your game, will eventually result in your grand success. That’s why, CHESS KLUB offers the widest range of simulated games, tournaments, and practice sessions where each student gets a chance to apply whatever they have learned.
We aim to create a healthy, competitive environment because we believe that every child is a champion in his or her own right. We want them all to experience the real deal and not just mug up on theory and rely on only classroom sessions.
Why are the tournaments important?
When the real matches (USCF Tournaments, CHESS KLUB Championships etc.) happen, most players, even the established GMs, IMs and seasoned players feel the “nerves.”
The “mock” tournaments are “mock” only in the name. Most of the students play with their peers or students who are ranked higher than them. This gives them a chance to compete against each other and assess their capabilities. Students are encouraged to make notes and prepare game analyses to be discussed later with their peers or coaches in our private online chess community.
And most importantly, it’s a testimony of our teaching. We would love to know how our students are performing and improving on a regular basis. I am sure, as a parent, you would agree too.
What you should do:
Encourage your child to participate in these tournaments. They are standardized to the last detail to give them the experience in the form of a mock US Chess tournament.
The student must also do a game analysis at the end of each tournament. Details on how to do game analysis on Lichess is given here.
How many tournaments should your child play:
We would love to see him/ her in every tournament. Tournaments are conducted every day, 7 days of the week. However, depending on the availability and time constraints, we recommend at least 3 tournaments per week to be really effective.
Of the 3 tournaments, the student must play the Saturday Weekly Open. The other 2 can be a split between Sunday and one of the weekdays.
But these are optional:
Sure, they are. Because our goal is to make learning chess fun and not yet another online class, we want to ensure that there is participation and seriousness to take your game to the next level. Hence we don’t make it mandatory but it is highly recommended.
Tournaments are our way to pat the backs of our students!
Do encourage your child to turn up. That’s half the battle won. Our (yours and ours) goal is to provide a holistic development in the chess abilities of your child.
Tournaments are the perfect ice-breakers for kids who are forced to stay indoors due to the pandemic. Right before and after the tournament, the students can hang out, interact with each other, discuss their games and even fix their next chess dates! In many ways, these daily, weekly, and monthly chess championships are the right stepping stones, benchmarks, self- assessments, all rolled into one. An hour worth of chess tournament can often lead to a learning of a lifetime!
Let’s have fun, and play!
