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Join us for weekly online classes via Zoom! Learn life skills through chess within a warm and inclusive online community.
We have classes for all levels of ability. From the 5-year-old beginner who can’t yet name the pieces, to the 14-year-old competitive tournament player, we have something for everyone.
Start your chess journey today!
Beginner Weekly Workshops are quick, introductory chess classes where fun is rule number one. They are filled with group activities where children laugh and learn, making friends while absorbing the basics of chess.
Ages: 5-7
Duration: 1 hour
Price: $19 per class
Terms: Playful Pawns – 1 term of 4 weeks
Rookie Rooks – 3 terms of 6 weeks
New terms start every six weeks.
Rookie Rooks classes are for 5-to-7-year-old children continuing their chess journey. Children are perfect for Rookie Rooks if they can name all the pieces but need more practice before they’re comfortable using them all in a game. There are three Rookie Rooks terms, 6 weeks each, that will take your child from excited beginner to confident player.
Rookie Rooks 1, children learn about the game of chess through interactive activities. They enjoy Name that Square to learn the coordinate system, dance around during Queen Says to practice their piece movements, and compete in Blue Team/Red Team to distinguish between safe and unsafe moves – among many other activities. With these basics in hand, they will be ready for Rookie Rooks 2.
Prerequisites: Playful Pawns or, The ability to name the pieces and how they move.
In Rookie Rooks 2, children are introduced to Lichess and begin to challenge each other to full games of chess! This term is a deep dive into Check and Checkmate – how to get one and how to escape one. By the end of Rookie Rooks 2, students will be more confident going after that win!
Prerequisites: Rookie Rooks 1
Rookie Rooks 3 will introduce children to the world of basic king-safety priorities. They will tell stories about the sleepy king, compete in a quiz show to explain the rules of castling, and act out superhero dramas to explain the need to control the centre of the board. These fun and interactive games will leave your child excited about chess and eager to move up to Noble Knights 1.
Prerequisites: Rookie Rooks 2
Intermediate Online Classes, also known as Noble Knights, will elevate your child’s game. Noble Knights may start with just the ability to checkmate, but as they progress through each term, our expert instructors will teach them the fundamental tactics and strategies to help them rule the board!
Ages: 6-12
Duration: 1 hour – once each week
Price: $22
Terms: Noble Knights – 6 terms of 8 weeks
New terms start all the time.
This term begins a player’s journey into chess theory. The most important, fundamental principle of chess is Safe Development. This involves piece valuation with an eye on safe exchanges, how to consistently open safely, and how to safely respond to challenges. By the end of this term, students will be able to consistently develop their pieces safely and recite multiple methods of keeping them safe throughout the game.
Prerequisites: Rookie Rooks 3 or, knowledge of all piece names, movements, and the rules of chess, and the ability to play the game from beginning to checkmate.
This term offers beginner students a chance to practice their checkmating skills from many different angles. Starting with King Activity, the term progresses through draws, multiple back-rank checkmates, basic pawn endgames, and both the smothered and scholar’s mates. By the end of this term, students will be able to use these checkmating patterns to win their own games!
Prerequisite: NK1
Sun Tzu may have said to avoid strength and attack weakness, but how, exactly, can we know when to do that? This term, students will learn to identify the three different target types in chess, multiple methods of attacking each of them, and when each method is appropriate. By the end of this term, students will be able to employ pins, skewers, discovered attacks, three types of forks.
Prerequisite: NK1
There is more to tactics than rushing into an attack. The positioning of one’s pieces to control the board and protect the King are of paramount importance. This term, students will learn to recognize certain situations where pieces might gain advantage. Paired Bishops, Knight Outposts, and Open Files for Rooks are some examples. By the end of this term, students will be able to identify and execute multiple positioning tactics.
Prerequisites: NK1 – NK3
Previously, tactical concepts were considered individually, in isolation, for clarity of understanding. This term will combine the tactical concepts of previous terms and employ them in the achievement of specific goals. Students will employ multiple tactics to eliminate defenders, divert attackers, and make the best of a desperate situation.
Prerequisites: NK1-NK4
This term delves into the surgical precision necessary to employ endgame pawn tactics. Key Squares, Square of the Pawn, and Passed Pawn tactics are explored in detail and drilled relentlessly with the expectation that they will be adopted into ever-more proficient playing habits of students.
Prerequisites: NK5
Advanced Online Classes, aka Future Masters, is where students take their knowledge from the Noble Knights program, and Practise, Practise, Practise! Our 90-minute Future Masters class flips the script on Beginner and Intermediate learning methods. Each lesson starts with playing chess and is followed by collaborative class discussions analyzing the games. In Future Masters, students grow through practise and analysis.
Ages: 7-14
Duration: 1.5 hours – once each week
Price: $34.50 per class
Terms: Join at any time. Unique 8-week terms of non-linear, ever-changing curriculum. Practise and repeat in Future Masters until a CFC rating of 1400 is achieved and held for 6 months. Then move up to the competitive Elite level.
Prerequisites: Completion of the full Intermediate curriculum or Instructor recommendation.
In the Elite classes, the most serious players learn the advanced tactics and strategies needed to successfully compete in professional tournaments. The most important part of this? The life skills necessary to be successful in competitions, like respect for others, focused self-control, and resilience.
Ages: 7-14
Duration: 1.5 hours (Elite), 2 hours (Select), weekly
Price: $34.50 per class (Elite), $40.00 per class (Select)
Terms: Unique 8-week terms of non-linear, ever-changing curriculum. With an instructor recommendation, move up to the Select level.
Prerequisites: An established Lichess Rapid rating of 1200, or Instructor recommendation.
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