Chess Parents FAQs - Blog

Chess 101 for beginners

11/17/2021

Due to the lack of Step 1 or beginner class in my online courses and in-classroom offerings, I have created this videos to help beginners. Here is the url for the playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF6enq3h4vUwWnhuynL8RZ5lfW0YwhCg2

Tentative topics:
1. Board and squares (online)
2. How pieces move? (online)
3. How to set up the board? (online)
4. What are values of pieces? (online)
5. How to capture a piece?
6. How to attack?
7. What is an exchange?
8. How to start a game?
9. How to finish a game?
10. What is check?
11. What is checkmate or mate?
12. What is draw?
13. What is mate in one?
14. How to practice mate in one?
15. What is Anastasia's Mate?
16. What is Boden's Mate?
17. What is Arabian Mate?
18. How to mate with 2 Rooks?
19. How to mate with 1 Queen?
20. How to mate with 1 Rook?
21. What is castling?
22. What are the rules for castling?
23. What are opening principles?
24. What is stalemate?
25. What is perpetual check?
26. What is En passant?
27. What is promotion?
28. What is Step 1?
29. What is 5334?
30. How to beat your dad at chess?
31. Chess openings for kids
32. What is double attack?
33. What is pin?
34. What is elimination of defence?
35. What is discovered attack?
36. What are tactics?
37. What is Step 2?

5334 on YouTube

11/11/2021

Finally I transferred the whole series to YouTube. 5334 is a big work. There are 4462 problems, most are composed, I showcased one-sixth of them, i.e. about 800 problems in 108 videos. If you are interested to learn with me, check out my playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF6enq3h4vUxpK3GJRXfjb6RJ3EZeEVVG

A sample schedule can be found here:
http://www.princetonchessacademy.com/5334.html

A new (old) blog

10/14/2021

The blog I maintained here is non-technical. There is no chess diagram on this blog. It's all talks, but no actions. :-) I am starting a new blog which will be more chess-problem oriented. It's not new, because I have used blogspot 6 years ago. My old one "One move checkmate" is still sitting there quietly. The new blog is called “Coach Andy's Corner". I am focusing on the following right now:

- Daily Briefing
- Endgame study
- Youtube videos of current events

Here is the site:
https://coachandyscorner.blogspot.com/

Let's wish this project can last longer.

How to create PGN without chessbase?

10/14/2021

September 28th, 2021

9/28/2021

1. DMV TYSONS CORNER 09-26-21
Brandon (VA): 1308 => 1495

Congratulation to All

Why my online Steps class is setup as one-year class?

9/27/2021

Online Steps classes are scheduled for one year, i.e., 34 weeks, about 11 weeks per workbook. (I am using 3). Is it too long? If my child lose interest in the middle, what can I do? Why not 6 or 8 weeks?

I understand there will be some doubts from parents when I started such schedule 3 years ago. Let me provide some explanation here.

First, 6 or 8 weeks are not enough for most workbooks. Most Steps have more than 10 lessons for the core and for the plus. Changing length for each course will make the classes more confusing and more difficult to manage.

Second, I offered two ways to pay the tuition, pay twice or pay once. Of course I will give some discount if you pay once. If you change mind, or your child lose interest, or your child's schedule gets changed, you can always stop in the middle, after 17 lessons. I am not forcing you do the whole year.

Third, I promote persistence through teaching chess. If you want to achieve something, you need persistence. Signing up one-year class is one way to learn persistence. People are too easy to give up something when they meet some difficulties. When you learn chess, you will definitely hit upon some bottleneck. Providing an easy way to get out is not our goal. Sometimes it's just a small nudging, persisting one more week, or trying one more time, that makes difference. Nobody complains about schooling, and most of us graduate from schools with no problem. What we are doing is just a chess school.

Fourth, with longer commitment, I have no need to worry about student source all the time. I can devote more time to help parents and students, and less time to advertise for my classes. I only advertise my steps class once a year, in summer. I don't advertise them in other 10 months.

Fifth, with stable student pool, it's much easier for me to know all students, and track their progress, so I can provide the best help. I can plan longer, without worrying about churning and re-aligning student level in the class.

Sixth, with fixed schedule, it's much easier for me know which area needs enhanced, which parts can go quickly, what contents should be added, etc. So I can improve my classes year over year.

Luckily, my last 3 years were quite smooth. I teach about 30-50 students a year. We started yearly schedule in 2019. In 2019, only 2 students chose to quit in the middle, one had schedule conflict, and another reason unknown. In 2020, 12 students chose to sign up next steps, and only 4 students chose to quit in January, 2 with conflict schedule, 1 went back to China, and I forgot the reason for the last one. This year, we have 13 students chose to continue with Step 4 and Step 5, and some stay with me for the third year. Right after pandemic, we saw couple students have seen their rating jumped for hundred points, up to unbelievable 785 points (710=>1495).

Weekend Achievements 9/18

9/21/2021

1. DMV TYSONS CORNER 09-19-21
Joy (VA): 981 => 1205

2. THE PHILADELPHIA SEPTEMBER ACTION - DMV CHESS
David (PA): 1137 => 1335

Congratulation to All

Weekend Achievements Sept 4

9/9/2021

1. Omaha Open
Max: 1147 => 1272， 4-0 Premier section Champion

2. NJ K-8
Paul: 563 (P24) => 916, 2nd place in U-900
Alex: 643 => 765
David: 989 (P20) => 1057 (P25)

3. DMV:
Leo： 902 => 995

4. NY State
Connor： 1459 => 1581
Matthew: 1015 => 1090

Congratulation to All

Congratulation to NAYCC players!

8/22/2021

One week-long tournament just ended after 9 rounds of fights. Lots of photos popped up on the WeChat moments. Several of them were my students. Because years have gone by, I won't call them students any more. The best word I can use is former students. Anyway, I am happy for them to grow up. As a base-level coach, I want to see my students grow up and become strong players.

Congratulation to all of them! Max, Roger, Will, Claire, Olivia, Katie, Florence, Sophie, Andy, Ryan, Joshua, etc. (not in order)

Youtube channel update

8/18/2021

On Saturday, I suddenly got the idea to build my Youtube. I had about 190 subscribers at that time. Thanks to support of parents, we reached 300+ over the weekend. It's still far from my target 1000 subscribers, but a nice start. So now I have to beef it up with contents.

One basic content can be "tactics". This is my strength. So I will discuss difficult tactic problems, sharing some puzzle rush results, and maybe also sharing some puzzle solving sessions.

Another one is "study with me". Studying master games, such as ones by Magnus Carlsen, is my routine training. I will make it more formal and more regular. We will start with Carlsen's games. Maybe also Karpov, Kasparov, Nepo, Dubov, Fabiano, etc. We will see how far we could go. First we start with Carlsen.

Third topic might be "current event". If I see any exciting games, I will share with you guys.

I am still transferring my 5334 course. It will take a while. I will comment on PCA tournament games once in a while too.

Let's wish for the best for the new 2021-2022 school year.