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General Info:

Getting Better:
To get better at playing chess, you need to play games, review your games, and study. All three are important. Studying is a quick way to improve your game, but you have to bring the lessons to home by playing. By reviewing your game, you will determine where your mistakes are and how to correct them.
• Play Games
• Review your games
• Study/Lessons
Links:
For Links containing latest info on local clubs: Local Clubs, US Chess.org clubs, GeorgiaChess-list
Free Play on the web: FICS- Free Internet Chess Server, Games.Yahoo, Its Your Turn (email-based)
Fee-Based Play on the web: ICC- Internet Chess Club, PlayChess, Chess.Net
Games in CBH/PGN: List of Downloadable Games Sites, Chessville Downloads, University of Pittsburgh, Positional Search, ChessGames (Database of masters), ChessBase's Search, TWIC (This week in chess), NetChess News
Openings: Openings used in the cafeteria, Positional Search, ECO Encyclopedia, ECO database
Research: Chess Kids Acadamy, La Mecca-Chess Encyclopedia, About.com Chess Page, Yahoo!Chess Servers, Patzer's Book Review, Chess Reviews, Chess Exchange Forum
Teaching: Chess Kids Acadamy, Exercises, RockfordChess, ChessCorner, Exeter ChessClub, Professor Chess, Mate-n-one, Loiodice's Collection, WikiBook's Chess,
Chess Tutor Organizations: Kid Chess, Championship Chess
Grandmasters: Susan Polgar, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Jeremy Silman
Chess Blogs/Podcast: Susan Polgar Blog, Chess is Cool Podcast,
Recent Events: TWIC (This week in chess), NetChess News
Other Links: US Chess Federation, USCF Scholastic Club Guide, International Chess Federation, Ga.Chess Assoc,  ChessMates Links Page, WinBoard, Nørresundby Chess Club Programs & Utilities

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS:
Oct 1, 2011	Fall Kickoff
Oct 15, 2011	Grade Level
Jan 14, 2012	MLK
February 2012	Regional (Qualifier for State Team)
March 2012	State Team


USCF Member Info: Track down rating information needed for tournaments
For the new members: What are Chess Tournaments Like?


STUDY - Chess Tutor Sites:
• http://www.chesskids.com/kidzone/index.shtml : Interactive Chess lessons
• http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/learn.htm : Ranges from begginer to intermediate lessons. Not as friendly as kidzone, as lessons rely on algebraic notation (which is not on boards). Has list of basic openings (sometimes with variations).
• pgn.zip : A collection of PGN games. Organized by opening and by master.
• http://www.chesslab.com/PositionSearch.html : Search games, analyse a position, games and puzzles available.
• Mate-n-one : A full page (9 problems) of mate in 1 move exercises. Does NOT contain answers
• Ten Tips to winning Chess : A simple page reviewing the basic principles to improve play.
• Loiodice's Collection : Includes openings and chess problems.
• WikiBook's Chess : A good basic coverage of Chess.

PLAY
Local Places

Local Chess Playing Sites

Recommended Chess Playing Site: FICS

FICS - http://www.freechess.org/ The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) is a popular Chess Server with serious players. Membership is free. The Java interface is usable, but I highly recommend one of the chess client programs below. This will also work better for folks using phone lines. Stores games in PGN format. My personal FICS help file. Recommended Clients (also free): WinBoard http://www.gnu.org/software/xboard/ WinBoard is the standard upon which all the other graphical user interfaces are judged. It is one of the most flexible and solid programs out there. However you will need to know FICS commands to play on FICS. Not too tough, see FICS help file. Baba's Chess http://www.babaschess.net BabasChess is targetted specifically for FICS. Because of this, it knows a lot of the FICS commands and supplies them automatically for the user. It also supports Portable Game Notation (PGN).

... More sites

Kid-Friendly Chess Tutorial Software: Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster
Excellent software. I highly recommend both these titles. If you have any doubt in your mind, I encourage you to give it a try.
	Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster
		Find at Amazon. This program is targeted for the first portion of what the chess club (Basic Book) will be aiming at. It includes interactive lessons involving all the pieces, checkmate, stalemate, etc. This will help the kids learning in the media centor. See a review at: http://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/reviews/problem/03/fchess/merge.shtml
	Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster 2
		Find at Amazon. This program targets the next level of chess. It starts with evaluating trades (good from bad) and has 24 different lessons in all. I would recommend it for the kids playing in the cafeteria. I have noticed that on some older computers, the sound misbehaves. Since the instructions are given verbally, you should be cautious about system requirements.
	... More chess software

Mike's Recommended Books for Kids:
(I recommend the books in order of appearance)
• A World Champion's Guide to Chess by Susan Polgar
  This book just came out. It is fantastic. It covers beginning topics such as pins, forks, skewers, double checks, etc. It covers intermediate topics such as when and how to force stalemate, proper defensive choices, key endgame positions, pattern recognition, etc. Polgar uses 20 or more examples to bring each concept home. She also advocates timing the childs solving the examples, so you can measure improvements in both speed and accuracy when you go over problems a second and third time. Polgar is not only good at the game, but she is good at teaching others as well. This is a book that will work. It is by far broader and covers the basics far more thoroughly more than any of the other books on the list.
• Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess
  This book came highly recommended. It had to, I picked it up a number of times and then set it back down. It's not flashy and it's not glitzy. It resisted my normal flip through the pages. But after I'd heard so many good things about it, I ignored my first impressions and gave it a try. I became impressed. Very impressed. This is a problem book, but focused on how to recognize a checkmate that might otherwise be missed. If you are going for your first book on chess, start with this one. It will not bore you.
• Chess Tactics for Kids by Murray Chandler
  This is another book that will greatly increase the strength of the club players. It starts with 12 basic tactical devices, such as the pin, deflection, overload, double check, etc. Then it starts going into typical patterns. It has a test in the back to see how well you recognize the patterns it tries to teach you.
• How to beat your Dad at Chess by Murray Chandler
  OK. With a title like this, I had to take a look at it. It contains 50 checkmate patterns. It is not as generic as Bobby Fischer's book, but should be considered a more advanced version. A number of the examples are from Grandmaster games. Written with the attention span of a child in mind. Each pattern includes example games so the reader can learn to recognize the pattern for themselves.

Links of Chess Book Reviews for Kids:
• http://www.jaderiver.com/chess/parents.html : Not only covers books, but software, training techniques, etc
• http://www.chesskids.com/rjccshop/books.htm : From Chesskids academy book store
• http://www.nscfchess.org/nscfbooks_b.html : NSCF (National Scholastic Chess Foundation) Best Books for Kids
• http://pbskids.org/lions/books/chess.html : The Chess Mess. Includes some books that refer to chess (such as Alice in Wonderland). The book that was of interest in this list was: Checkmate at Chess City

List of Chess Merchants:
• http://www.wholesalechess.com/store/ : Best prices I've found on the web. First place to start when pricing something.
• http://www.thechesshouse.com/ : Fairly decent site, seems to be focused on the educational aspect.
  Book section - excellent selection and organization. Very easy to find the type of book you want if you don't already have a title in mind.
• http://www.chessset.com/ : Rochester Chess. Saw at the Nationals in Atlanta. Has a lot of reasonably priced, less common chess stuff.
• http://www.alldirect.com/ : Online Bookstore: Good selection / prices on chess books.

Supplies!

Everyone should have a chess board at home. In addition, kids that are just getting started or want to participate in tournaments should be working on chess at home. I've linked these to the appropriate page on Amazon.com for your convenience. I also carry a stock of most of these items. Let me know if you need something and I can usually get it to your child.
• Chess board (with notation)
• Beginners - Fritz and Chesster
• Near Beginners - Fritz and Chesster II
• Next Level - Fritz and Chesster III
• Tournament Players - Beginning Tactics - Susan Polgar's "World Champion's Guide to Chess"
• Tournament Players - Intermediate Tactics - Susan Polgar's "Tactics for Champions"