Here we are, the penultimate week. I am so glad that students have acquired the knowledge necessary to play the game of chess at such a high-level in such a short period of time. We have one week left and I hope to make the most of it. One important announcement that I’m sure you are already aware of is we will be beginning the Rapid City Scholastic Chess Club at the Rapid City public library, Saturdays 11 AM to 1:30 PM starting this November 7th. Please contact me for any further details and join our Facebook group! https://m.facebook.com/groups/741823562615278
Today in the fifth and sixth grade class we played another chess variant in order to teach the importance of controlling the center of the chessboard. The name of the game was, “king of the hill!”
Bring your king to the center to win.
This variant is quite unique and makes for very intense games. It retains all standard chess rules.
Rules
1. All the Laws of chess apply. In particular, a move is legal if and only if it would have been legal in actual chess.
2. If you make a legal move that moves your King to one of the center squares (d4, d5, e4, e5) you win.
Clarifications
The winning move has to be legal, e.g. you can not move into check. If you move into check you lose! Checkmating your opponent is another legal way to win.
…Chess coaches, mentors and chess authors have always stressed about the importance of the center of the board (i.e. squares called e4, e5, d4 and d5). They have taught us often how important it is to have a hold on it during gameplay. But this favorite chess variant of mine, King of the Hill, takes the importance of the cener of the board to another level.
In the middle school/highschool group we practiced our lesson by playing “uncle bobs stinky pig” you can find the rules from last weeks post found here… https://rapidcitychess.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/week-6-review-announcements-and-homework/
THE LESSON for this week…
At today’s chess lesson I introduced two of the four principles of playing winning chess. The four principles are force, space, time and pawn structure. We focused on the first 2; force and space.
Force
When I speak of force I am not speaking of Star Wars! Force refers to the number of pieces and their value relative to your opponent. So if we begin a game and no pieces have been taken or moved, you have an equal number of force each. Like players on a soccer field.
If you had the same number of pieces on the board but had one additional pawn (player) you have a +1 force count, and all things being equal it would indicate you are doing better/winning. The force is determined by the value of the pieces (some players are more valuable on a team) found in the picture below. If you would like to know more and how this applies to when you should trade pieces ask your students! 🙂
Space
We can think of space as the number of squares controlled or influenced by our pieces. Space and force go hand in hand when it comes to good chess. A player may have a superior force going into the middle game but might end up on the losing end of a position if their pawns and pieces control less space on the board. Having a superior force does no good if that force has no control or influence over crucial squares such as those in and around the board’s center or the opposition’s King.
Well that’s almost it! One week left and then they are off on their own 🙂 I hope everyone has enjoyed the class and look forward to those of you that will be joining our upcoming weekly chess club.
And the homework? Teach one person to play the game and… PLAY LOTS OF CHESS GAMES!!!!
One last thing for those that were patient enough to read this entire thing 😉 We will have an upcoming chess tournament (free to everyone) this November 21st called the K-12 “Big Turkey” Chess Classic. Please make plans to attend!!!
Rapid City Scholastic Chess Club 