People, Places, Checkmates

People, Places, Checkmates
Author: Alexey W. Root
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2010-03-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1591588529

Fifteen chess-enhanced lesson plans address National Council for the Social Studies standards for grades 4–8 and help prepare students to succeed in University Interscholastic League (UIL) Chess Puzzle. Implement the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) curriculum standards in your classroom with People, Places, Checkmates: Teaching Social Studies with Chess. In this unique volume, 15 lesson plans teach culture, history, geography, and citizenship through the history of chess and its relationship to art, civics, culture, economics, geography, government, and technology. This book will also help educators and librarians prepare students to succeed in University Interscholastic League (UIL) Chess Puzzle. Each 40-minute lesson plan includes an NCSS theme, materials and sources, procedure, and evaluation. Each lesson is followed by an optional 10-25 minute chess exercise, composed of teacher background, procedure and materials, expected time, and evaluation. A separate chapter teaches the chess basics necessary for your students to actually play chess and successfully complete the optional exercises. Lesson plans complement upper elementary and middle school curricula in world history, U.S. history, geography, and social studies.

United States Women's Chess Champions, 1937-2020

United States Women's Chess Champions, 1937-2020
Author: Alexey W. Root
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2022-06-15
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1476646872

As late as 1950, many chess clubs in America excluded women. The Marshall Chess Club in New York City was an exception, organizing the U.S. Women's Chess Championship beginning in the late 1930s. Since the 1980s, the average rating of the players has increased. The Saint Louis Chess Club has organized the championship since 2009, with record-setting prizes. Drawing on archives and original interviews with the living U.S. Women's Chess Champions, this book examines their careers with biographies, photos, and 171 annotated games, most of which are from the 60 championships between 1937 and 2020.

Check Mates

Check Mates
Author: Stewart Foster
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2019-06-27
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1471172244

WINNER OF THE UKLA BOOK AWARDS 2021 'Funny and heartfelt with a cunning twist. Stewart Foster is a grandmaster' – ROSS WELFORD 'An inspirational underdog story and a chilling mystery! A winning combination' – DAVID SOLOMONS Some people think that I’m a problem child, that I’m lazy and never pay attention in lessons. But the thing is, I’m not a problem child at all. I’m just a child with a problem. Felix is struggling at school. His ADHD makes it hard for him to concentrate and his grades are slipping. Everyone keeps telling him to try harder, but no one seems to understand just how hard he finds it. When Mum suggests Felix spends time with his grandfather, Felix can’t think of anything worse. Granddad hasn’t been the same since Grandma died. Plus he’s always trying to teach Felix boring chess. But sometimes the best lessons come in the most unexpected of places, and Granddad soon shows Felix that there’s everything to play for. Praise for ALL THE THINGS THAT COULD GO WRONG 'A moving, humane, funny portrait of two very different boys discovering what connects us all.' Kiran Milwood Hargrave, author ofThe Girl of Ink and Stars ‘It’s amazing!’ Ross Welford, author of Time Travelling with a Hamster 'I loved it.' Lisa Thompson, author of The Goldfish Boy 'A touching, funny, gripping read that tackles important issues in a sensitive and thoroughly enjoyable way. Highly recommended.' Stuart Robinson, author of If Ever I Fall 'A timely story of courage and reminder of what we all share.' Christopher Edge, author ofThe Many Worlds of Albie Bright 'Powerful and warm ... this will linger long in the mind.' Guardian Praise for THE BUBBLE BOY, winner of the Sainsbury's Children's Book Award in 2016 ‘Poignant, hopeful and heartbreaking.’ Fiona Noble – Children’s Editor, The Bookseller 'Deeply moving and utterly gripping . . . Stewart Foster carries off an astonishing feat of storytelling in this exceptional book' Julia Eccleshare, lovereading.co.uk ‘A gripping and deeply moving book.’ Jamila Gavin, author of Coram Boy 'One thing we know about good books is their amazing ability to inspire empathy in the reader; to explore ideas and viewpoints that arise from experiences that are out of our own realm. The Bubble Boy does this with warmth, quirkiness and a light-hearted touch.' Guardian

1001 Deadly Checkmates

1001 Deadly Checkmates
Author: John Nunn
Publisher: Gambit Publications
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Checkmate (Chess)
ISBN: 9781906454258

For all chess-players, from beginners to world champions, from kids to seniors, delivering checkmate is the greatest thrill the game has to offer. The ability to spot checkmates is a vital skill - and this easy-to-use book shows you how it is done. With the help of Grandmaster John Nunn, you will be ready to shock your next opponent with a deadly checkmate, whether in a school match, a club tournament - or even a championship game! By focusing exclusively on positions from real games, ranging from junior events to grandmaster encounters, Nunn ensures that the mates featured are those which arise most often in real life. He also highlights themes and ideas that are often missed in practice. While solving these puzzles, your all-important 'mental library' of patterns will grow, leading to an immediate increase in your playing strength. All 1001 puzzle positions have been carefully checked, and are graded by theme and difficulty. Points are awarded for finding the checkmate, so you can measure your skill. Most of the puzzles are suitable for novice and junior players. The last chapter challenges you with 'extreme checkmates', but don't worry: you'll be ready for them!

Mastering Mates

Mastering Mates
Author: Jon Edwards
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2014-07-07
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1936490978

Train Your Brain to Recognize Checkmates! This first book in the Mastering Mate series presents a challenge for players relatively new to chess and for readers seeking a novel and interesting set of puzzles. Books on chess tactics can overwhelm beginners and young learners. These relatively simple, carefully chosen exercises serve to illustrate the wide variety of examples of checkmate, as well as showing off the harmonious cooperation of chess pieces delivering the final blow. You will certainly learn what checkmate is and how to deliver it. And you will learn how chess pieces can coordinate their influence on the board. Every one of the 1,111 positions in this book is from an actual game. Each position has a single, unique solution. And all of the solutions have been carefully checked. Most of these problems are relatively easy, but not all of them! Indeed, many involve solutions are not completely obvious. In fact, some of the masters who played these games actually missed the mates! With Mastering Mates 1, you will fine tune your checkmate radar, with greater success and enjoyment of the royal game sure to follow!

The Living Chess Game

The Living Chess Game
Author: Alexey W. Root
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2010-12-20
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1598843818

This book provides comprehensive information and guidance for successfully staging a theatrical living chess game for children ages 9–14. It also prepares student to succeed in University Interscholastic League (UIL) Chess Puzzle. Living chess games have been referenced in works from classic authors such as Lewis Carroll and Kurt Vonnegut; this theater art was also mentioned in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. With The Living Chess Game: Fine Arts Activities for Kids 9-14, any parent, librarian, teacher, or after-school instructor can successfully stage an educational and entertaining living chess game. This book will also help educators and librarians prepare students to succeed in University Interscholastic League (UIL) Chess Puzzle. The book's chess instruction enables children to perform, with understanding, as living chess pieces. The activities not only instruct students on how to research chess, but also teach a myriad of fine arts skills such as acting, composing music, choreographing movements, designing scenery, and scriptwriting, and the activities address content standards from the National Standards for Arts Education. The author has also provided a "resources and materials" section that explains the cultural reference of each activity's title and lists opportunities for parental involvement, such as tech support and attending students' performances.

Chess for Schools

Chess for Schools
Author: Richard James
Publisher: Crown House Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2022-08-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1785836242

Written by Richard James, Chess for Schools: From simple strategy games to clubs and competitions is a great resource to help teachers encourage children to enjoy the benefits and challenges of the chess game Chess is a game of extraordinary excitement and beauty and all children should have the opportunity to experience it. Indeed, many claim that playing abstract strategy games such as chess provides a wide range of cognitive and social benefits- such as improvements in problem-solving ability and communication skills. However, Richard James argues that, because of the complexity of chess, most younger children would gain more benefit from simpler chess-based strategy games and incremental learning. In this practical handbook, Richard provides a wide range of games and puzzles based on these principles which are appropriate for primary schools and explains how teachers can identify children who would benefit from starting young. Richard also sets out how this approach can engage the whole community, including working with children with special needs, getting parents involved in learning and playing, and developing partnerships between primary and secondary schools. Chess for Schools shares the latest research into how children process information, combined with insights into international best practice in teaching chess to young children. The book demonstrates the transformative effect chess can have on older children, and how this can be promoted in secondary schools. Richard James offers valuable insights into the greater context of chess-playing, expressing how and why chess is a joy to so many worldwide andshares a series of resources and minigames for teachers to use with their learners. An ideal resource for primary and secondary school teachers wanting to introduce their pupils to chess.

1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate

1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate
Author: Fred Reinfeld
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2014-06-03
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1936490838

A 21st-Century Edition of a Great Checkmate Collection! Ask most chessplayers from the “baby boomer” generation how they acquired and sharpened their tactical skills, and chances are a Fred Reinfeld tactics collection will be part of their answer. And now, for the first time, 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate is available in modern algebraic notation. This may be the all-time great checkmate collection, with forced checkmate positions culled mainly from actual play. And Reinfeld's selection is simply marvelous, touching on all the important tactical themes. In short, this is an outstanding book to hone your tactical abilities. It will help you recognize mating patterns, develop visualization skills, enhance imagination, and improve tactical sharpness. And now, with a modern 21st-century edition of this great checkmate collection finally available, there is no excuse for not only improving your tactical skills, but also enjoying yourself along the way.