
Chess as a game and studying chess has always been one of the activities that I use to calm down and take some rest from my studies. With the help of my friends, I taught the students the basics of chess (which was dependent on their level) all the way up to complex endgame scenarios. I also taught them rapid chess strategies, blitz chess strategies, and some parts of classical chess. Teaching the students online gives the students an edge in some ways. Apart from one-on-one Q & As and teaching them, the students have a wide range of resources that they can refer to and learn from. Chess.com (the platform that we used to teach them) has numerous ways that we can challenge and assess the students based on their rating and playing style. Furthermore, at the end of this club, I hope to host an MISP chess tournament. All the leaders were very enthusiastic and excited to teach, play and challenge the students at the MISP chess club
As a leader, I started by teaching them basic principles, 1. Controlling the Center, 2. Developing the Pieces and 3. Protecting your King. This gave the students a good understanding of how to start and gain an advantage in a chess game, especially when talking about developing pieces. This was taught through chess.com. This allowed us to interact with the students live and keep track of their games during the virtual sessions. I taught them more chess openings to help them with their beginning game. I also taught them multiple attaching openings: Slav Game, King’s Indian Attack, Catalan Opening. Whilst teaching them I asked them questions about what they thought the best move was and why exactly it was the best. This helped with their critical thinking skills and rapid move development.
There were a few challenges faced during the CCA. One large challenge was online virtual lessons. Instructing the students whilst online was not ideal but we got through it. We made a fixed plan for each lesson, this allowed us to be on track even if there were technical issues. Another challenge that we faced was matching players with each other, most of the students had varied ratings. We took care of this by having a mini tournament where we could evaluate the players’ level. This allowed us to pair students with the same rating together. We also played multiple games together and against each other and learned from each other.
I really enjoyed this experience and teaching the students one of my favorite strategy board games. Along with the experience of teaching students, I have gained a lot when it comes to leadership skills, planning skills, communication and critical thinking skills over the course of the CCA.
By Dheer (DP2)