Chess Club

True Beginners Chess Club (12:30 - 1:30 PM)  This class is for students who have no knowledge of the game whatsoever. In this class we will cover board geography, naming squares (notation), piece movement, numerical value of the pieces, capturing, and check/checkmate. The goal is to get the scholars to understand how to set up the board, and the purpose of the game. There will be a 15-20 minute lesson followed by a tournament each class. Each student must create a free lichess.org account. This will be the platform I use to create lessons so that every student can follow along on, and review on their own after class. 

 Intermediate/Advanced Chess Club (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM)  This class is for students who have played before, and understand how to checkmate. These students must understand the difference between check, checkmate, and stalemate as well as experience playing full games on their own. In this class we will explore tactics like forks, discovery attacks, pins, skewers, and deflection. We will learn different opening principles, and defenses. There will be a 20-25 minute lesson followed by a tournament each class. Each student must create a free lichess.org account. This will be the platform I use to create lessons so that every student can follow along on, and review on their own after class.   

Instructor: Johanna Soto  Hi my name is Johanna Soto, but the students usually call me Coach Johanna. I've been teaching chess for about 15 years in different classroom settings. I'm currently the President of NJ Chess Mates, offering my curriculum to different after school programs in NYC/NJ, and also work as a full time chess instructor at Success Academy Charter Upper West.