9 EASY Steps to Online Chess Classes – Golden Chess Centre
Virtual Chess Room for Training and Playing online for our students who are staying indoors!
We are pleased to announce online chess classes for all students globally, above 5 years of age. For those outside India, you will have to register for a demo session first. After the demo class, we will design the schedule and pace of the class especially reflecting the speed and comfort.
Our chess academy classes are now ONLINE Chess Classes!
We are forced to stay inside our homes as a precautionary measure due to the coronavirus outbreak. Whether we like it or not this is the new normal.
Given the number of requests we’ve had for virtual chess classes (as an alternative to our academy direct classes), we have arranged all our training resources in one place for you. Online.
Many of you who were not having time due to the schools’ exams, would like to take this break as a time to train harder.
Online Chess classes are a fun, rewarding, and engaging experience for kids to learn chess in a focused virtual classroom setting.
We will work with the students to develop their chess knowledge and skill, and this in turn helps develop an understanding of the real world and learn relevant lessons through their efforts.
Our students have a great time learning and building confidence and self-esteem by solving challenging scenarios and having a culture, that celebrates effort rather than just success.
Students will experience this value in all of our sessions as they learn chess and life skills, which will prepare them to excel in chess and life.
Chess classes are ranked around various levels of chess knowledge that develop students from the basics to an advanced understanding of the game of chess.
Tech-savvy Kids
We believe in quality over quantity.
We highly recommend parents to sit along with and attend the online chess classes for kids, especially if the child is lesser than 7 years of age.
This way they will be there as a support system and also provide family involvement.
Family participation is very important to inculcate the seriousness of their endeavours in children.
We want to make sure the students have a great support system with their families at home.
What is the procedure for Online Chess Classes?
Please read the below points and let us know if you have any doubts.
Preliminary technical requirements for the online chess class:
1. Internet connection with decent speed (even Mobile hotspot will suffice)
2. Laptop or PC or even a Mobile
3. Headset or earphone recommended.
Software requirements for the online chess class:
4. Skype with ID (preferable with the child’s name). You can install Skype on your mobile too. It is advisable to take a test call with us, before registering for the online chess class.
In this article, I am discussing the Milestones in Chess and what are the obstacles in reaching them – a thought that came to my mind one lazy afternoon. We all know that Rome was not built in a day. The same applies to chess achievements. One brick at a time and the chess expertise is built. We all know that going slow and steady is what it takes to reach a milestone.
What are the Milestones in Chess, the prerequisites, and more importantly, how to sustain our motivation and achieve them eventually?
Some important Milestones in Chess are:
Grandmaster Title
International Master
Fide Master Title
Candidate master and
Fide Rating.
While striving to reach these milestones is desirable, understanding the way to approach these goals is more essential, to make the journey smooth and enjoyable. During my online chess classes, one of my students actually asked me about this and that made me think that I had never given a thought to it to date.
Heeded my words not, did you? Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery. But weakness…folly…failure, also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Luke…we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.” – Yoda’s Force spirit to Luke Skywalker
How do we reach (and cross) the general and personal Milestones in Chess?
What are the ingredients that make up for a successful accomplishment? How can we maintain the momentum that we had when we first started?
What I really believe in, is the idea that a real journey is no different from an inner one.
Where there is fun, merriment, and company, the journey becomes less tedious and appears less time-consuming.
Here are my personal tips to help my students achieve and enjoy chess pursuits.
So the first step is to make sure that you are passionate about this = Deeply passionate.
By that, I mean that your whole day must be engrossed in this single passion. You can relax but at the end of the day if you did not dwell in your pursuit of chess goals, then it is not an earnest endeavor.
You are not channeling your inner force. This inner force will push you in the proper direction. Always.
The force that was referred to by the Star Wars Jedi Master in the very famous line – “May the force be with you”.
To live with this passion in the back of your mind, will create that inner impetus to work on the daily practice. This was and is still the driving force for me.
Back then when I first started as a chess player in the ’90s – and now as a chess coach – whenever I am doing other things non-chess, I am always yearning to come back to my chess-zone.
Form a group that shares your passion = Together we win.
Join a club or create an informal one, with like-minded friends if there is none! That way the energy levels will be sustained.
When I was an amateur, I used to invite a lot of chess friends to my place for long hours of study. And they helped me get back to shape, when my energy was low, due to some off-days. Those were the non-internet era.
That was actually a boon for me as, if I had not had these friends to push me up, I would have quit and stagnated, resigning to my fate.
Nowadays we have the groups formed automatically when we are taking online chess classes – if not the coach will help in this regard.
Even a family can sometimes become a group – if all of them are chess lovers!
Teach someone = Moral responsibility.
Yes… it may be strange to hear but teaching someone will give you a sense of what you have understood fully and what you have only a superficial understanding of.
You will be morally responsible and that will bring sincerity to your efforts.
I gained a lot by teaching some younger players a few things about chess training software and in return, I was daily increasing my knowledge by conscious reinforcements and boosting my energy levels.
I was also subconsciously learning my future job!
Here, I tell my students to teach their parents or siblings, or grandparents whenever they have a chess aficionado in the family.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions whether in online chess classes or casual sparring games = Fearlessness.
Sometimes a stronger player will take the pains to teach you something ONLY if you bother to ask.
Just try it.
I have met quite a few good souls who later on turned out to be good friends on my chess journey!
You can try it out in your club or during a tournament. I encourage my students in online chess classes and in my chess centers to have that camaraderie. Sometimes these friendships go beyond chess boundaries.
Don’t be afraid of criticism = No Ego.
Sometimes players who are far younger or older than you will chide you for your game quality – take it in your stride.
After all, that soul is giving you a free lesson! These nifty tips will be in your memory for a long time. I once remember how I had my first lesson not to be too overconfident when my Grunfeld defense was ripped apart by an elderly player.
For those of you who may be curious – he was non-other than the legendary late Mr. Dakshinamoorthy from Chennai (Theagaraya Nagar to be precise). He had since then taught me – and countless others like me – so many wonderful chess lessons, many of which were in silent communion, that I can never describe.
Maybe one day I will write about him.
Spend some time doing self-study = Gaining momentum.
That is the most important tip I cannot stress enough.
Too many students of mine need to be weaned off the spoon-feeding that they undergo as beginners either in online chess classes or academy lessons.
When they reach a certain level they must be forced to study on their own for some time, daily.
This will give them a sense of achievement that will drive them to pursue their personal Milestones in chess.
A coach can only act as a battery charger. The ‘capacity of the battery’ is what you will be increasing, by engaging in dedicated self-study. It’s your privilege and responsibility for this life.
Meditate daily. It is the hidden compass in your life that will constantly guide you on your path. Calm your mind and let the noise settle down. Undertake this on a daily basis. Now you will notice that you have clarity while working on your chess.
Take a break, once a week. After all, you are the boss of your own practice. Give yourself a cheat day. Enjoy the view while traveling!
Exercise regularly. While everyone knows that exercise is a good idea, the scientific evidence about its benefits in old age is there for all to see. Remember that Chess has to retirement age. So if you love chess you will be playing it for a long time to come and for that, you need to be healthy and fit.
I hope you liked this article. If you can do me a favor and spread the word.
Let us help chess players who are struggling to reach their personal milestones in chess.
I know because I was also once there in that plateau.
Over the last two decades, I’ve trained more than 500 students in chess, from India and abroad through online chess classes.
My experience helps me to identify the weak spots in the student’s chess armor, and that is where I provide help in making them reach their personal Milestones in chess.
Many of these students went on to become school champions, district champions, state champions and went on to participate in national and international level chess events having achieved a decent FIDE rating up to 1900-2000 and an online rating of 2300 to 2500.
If you want to take private lessons, do drop me a line at kishchess at Gmail dot com. To know more about online chess classes click here.
Every chess player wonders Which is stronger – Bishop or Knight and has their own thoughts regarding this.
The confusion is even more if they are just beginning their chess practice.
That is because they are both assigned a numerical value of 3 and hence the confusion regarding which is stronger – Bishop or Knight?
When my students are just starting to learn chess, they have this idea that Bishops are more powerful than Knights.
Why? The reason according to them was that Bishops can travel long distances compared to Knights hence the bias towards Bishops.
But when they start training in our online chess classes and learn more about chess positions, they realize that it is not quite so simple as it seems to be.
Some of my students are just the opposite; they prefer to keep Knights on the board and exchange Bishops readily.
And they win games with their Knights against clueless opponents who have no idea of the cunning knight’s tricks!
If you are wondering, which is better, Knight or Bishop, then this article may guide you (or confuse you even further, who knows?)
The debate between Bishop and Knight is still going on!
In this article, we are going to go in-depth in the nitty-gritty about – Which is stronger – Bishop or Knight?
Many players incline towards bishops and even some World Chess Champions like Fischer and Steinitz favored the Bishop over a Knight.
Chigorin stood out as a different player and preferred Knights against Bishops.
I am not sure if there were others like him. But I personally like to keep knights on board due to their unpredictable nature.
My opponents usually misread the power of the knight.
If one of the knights landed on the square d6 or f5 then usually the game would end in my favor.
To have a sample of each piece’s prowess let’s look at some games that highlight the same.
Sample game 1 – The Power of the Double Bishop advantage
Below is the well-known game between Max Harmonist and Siegbert Tarrasch in the Berlin variation where many kibitzers and even Nimzowitsch in his celebrated book ‘My System‘demonstrates this as a poignant reminder of the dual bishops’ advantage.
Sample game 2 – The Power of the Knights against the Bishops
And now it is time to witness the knight’s power against bishops played between the great legends Emanuel Lasker vs Mikhail Chigorin. It is instructive and worth replaying.
This game is a fantastic show of knight blockade, one would say after move 14.Bd3+- so Lasker must have thought, but some magic happened and Chigorin won!
When to prefer a Bishop?
When the position is open.
When to prefer a Knight?
When the position is closed.
Knights are more powerful in the opening and middlegame in chess, especially when there are a lot of pawns and pieces on the chessboard.
This is the time when Knights are very hot to handle. Handle them with care.
This is because Knights have a unique L-shaped move, which makes chess players have a really hard time understanding/predicting what they would do next.
In this context, Bishops are more predictable than Knights, even for advanced chess players.
Which is stronger – Bishop or Knight?
To sum up – Which is stronger – Bishop or Knight?
Generally, the Bishop is stronger than the Knight.
But there are exceptions where the Knight is stronger than the Bishop and these are:
Training beginners in Chess – Count till 10 and then see the results change drastically!
“When angry, count to 10 before you speak. If very angry, up to a hundred!” is a very apt technique in anger management.
However, when I say “count till 10” to my online chess students, it is not for anger, but for impulsive chess playing habits.
And I have been finding a huge improvement in the way the children respond to their opponent’s move.
Training beginners in Chess to count till 10 – is my idea of superimposing a conscious task-repetition, to a subconscious task and making a conscious effort.
And pretty highly effective too!
This way it makes the mind be here and now.
Why is it so difficult to Training beginners in Chess
Among chess players especially when you are a beginner (whether child or adult, doesn’t matter) the biggest problem that all trainers face is that the players do not understand the importance of giving a second thought to the move that they are about to play.
More so in online chess classes and tests.
They play impulsively and instinctively.
And that is innate in all of us unless we are trained differently.
It has to do a lot with the way our body responds to external stimulus – known as the flight or fight syndrome.
When Training beginners in Chess, (especially kids who are beginners), I focus on this aspect in my online chess classes before going deep into theoretical domains.
Training beginners in Chess – fight or flight?
This is the body’s response to any perceptible threat or danger.
During this reaction, some hormones like Adrenalin and Cortisol are released by the body to cope with contingencies.
This results in faster heart rate and various other autonomic nervous functional changes, providing the body with a burst of energy and strength.
This response prepares the body to either fight or flees from the critical situation.
The person’s body is getting ready to do one of two things in such a scenario:
Confront the threat and deal with it, or
Get as far away from the threat as quickly as possible.
This fight or flight response can actually be life-saving when there is an actual and real physical threat.
For example, when driving, if you see someone cross the road in front, you suddenly slam the brakes as you need to react quickly in order to prevent an accident.
What needs to be changed when training beginners – whether kids or adults – in Chess?
The fight-or-flight response, also known as the acute stress response, refers to a psychological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically.
However… What is strange is that the response can be triggered due to both real and imaginary threats.
We have fear and stress in non-critical threat situations too (like in a game of chess) because of the way we perceive these situations.
Our bodies cannot always tell the difference between real and imagined threats.
Therefore, when we interpret a situation as critical on the chessboard, our body is going to respond as though that situation is dangerous and threatening, even if it really isn’t in actuality.
The fight-or-flight response was first described in the 1920s by American physiologist Walter Cannon.
Cannon realized that a chain of rapidly occurring reactions inside the body help mobilize the body’s resources to deal with threatening circumstances – source
Training beginners in Chess – Count till 10 before making a move
This is my idea of making a chess move whether in online chess classes or games to slow down the untrained mind of chess kids.- a conscious effort reduces impulsive reactions.
This makes the mind to be in the mindful state of here and now.
So how do we get about doing this?
Simple. By asking the child to count till 10 before making a move, however, forced and obvious it may be.
They will be irritated by your advice, initially. Let them be.
Over time, they will understand why this drilling took place, and they will thank you for this.
Once the child has grasped the importance of this training he/she is free to play without counting.
It’s been a while since my last blog post. Things have been very busy on all fronts. The good news is that – we have opened a branch of Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam to cater to the Chess aficionados of Adambakkam, St. Thomas Mount, and Alandur.
Adambakkam is well connected to St. Thomas Mount, Alandur, Nandambakkam, and Meenambakkam, so it makes sense to have a branch that would be a big help to the residents of these areas.
Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam will be focusing on the use of technology to accelerate chess learning.
It is an innovative idea to implement and has been going on in my mind for quite some time now.
The inspiration came from many directions especially after seeing how technology has eased our lives compared to say 10 years ago (not so long ago eh?).
I am planning on introducing the learners to the online chess arena, for playing with other chess players.
This will be a good idea to implement especially on those days when the energy level of the children is low 🙂
For those students who are coming from far-off areas, we have proximity to the St. Thomas Mount Metro and Suburban Railway station from where it is just half a kilometer distance.
Most importantly the centre is spacious and air-conditioned to give maximum comfort to the avid learners.
For those of you who are looking for a quality chess training academy in Adambakkam – do pay a visit.
Make sure you enroll early as seats are filling fast at the Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam and you avoid missing the bus!
After all, we are focusing on quality rather than quantity.
Photos will be added soon so stay tuned!
When I first got introduced to Chess, back in the 80’s, there was a lack of chess training resources and even now it looks like not many people have a clue about chess training.
When I come across parents and hear stories about how they got introduced to chess,
I feel that the current generation is blessed to have so many resources for learning any skill or subject.
All one needs is a Mobile phone to enquire online about chess training needs. And there are a plethora of choices that one can take.
How did we start the Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam?
Adambakkam is a locality that is both busy and quiet at the same time.
Busy market places are always crowded – as though there is no sleep time and people are always rushing to god knows where!
Then there are the residential areas where nothing much seems to happen.
When many school kids started enquiring at our Nanaganallur Golden Chess centre, we decided on setting up an alternative Chess centre at Adambakkam.
What is the Mission of Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam?
The main mission is of course to teach chess. Using technological means and imparting modern-day tools for the uber kids!
Apart from that, we started the Adambakkam centre as it was an experiment in using computers in the much-needed chess training centre in this part of Chennai.
During these Pandemic times, all our classes are currently online.
There are Chess classes for all levels of chess players from the ages 5 to 18.
Hey, I’m Kish Kumar.
