Basics for Scholastic Chess Players

There is specific knowledge with which all good scholastic players should be familiar if they aspire to represent their school or club in team competition. Understanding of these essential elements will assure that the player is adequately prepared to play competitively and advance in chess.

This practical presentation focuses on avoiding one-move blunders rather than emphasizing seeing four-move combinations. Opening principles are promoted rather than specific openings because practice has shown that beginning players lose because of avoidable blunders rather than inadequacies of the opening.

Using nearly 220 diagrams, the ideal opening, tactical basis of combinations, and endgame principles are presented in a conversational manner to promote easy learning by players studying alone or easy teaching by chess coaches in the classroom. Some test positions of instructional value are also given so that players’ progress can be measured.

This material addresses many of the questions asked by parents and chess coordinators on how to prepare their players for team competition. It spells out

(1) basic chess knowledge,
(2) approaches to qualifying a team,
(3) duties of team captains and coaches,
(4) championship teams and "B" teams,
(5) Alternative substitution and closing ranks toward the top,
(6) coordination of draw offers by the team captain, and
(7) other team-specific situations.

This book is a must for those developing a team, especially in Tennessee.

To promote the student’s independent growth and continued development, book recommendations are made and advanced topics (such as attack, defense, and sacrificing for active rook play) are touched on in an Appendix.

Follow the links below to see sample pages from the book, and to go to the convenient order page.

	Table of Contents
	The Alphabet of Responding to Attacks
	Method for Error Reduction and Move Selection
	Duties of the Team Captain
	Order Page
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