Generated by All in One SEO v5.0.0.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Spicewood Elementary Chess Club Central Texas Chess club ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://spicewoodchess.org/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Registration for Fall 2026 is open!](https://spicewoodchess.org/registration-for-fall-2026-is-open/) - Link: https://spicewoodchess.org/about/registration/ - [Registration for Fall 2025 is open!](https://spicewoodchess.org/registration-for-fall-2025-is-open/) - Link: https://spicewoodchess.org/about/registration/ - [Registration for Fall 2024 is open!](https://spicewoodchess.org/registration-for-fall-2024-is-open/) - Link: https://spicewoodchess.org/about/registration/ - [Registration for Fall 2023 is open!](https://spicewoodchess.org/registration-for-fall-2023-is-open/) - Link: https://spicewoodchess.org/about/registration/ - [Testing one two three](https://spicewoodchess.org/testing-one-two-three/) - This is the first post from Dmitriy. Ha ha. Not really. But this is a test to make sure his new account works and he has access to post new messages. Look forward to all kinds of greatness to follow. Dmitriy will probably test to see if he can edit or delete this post :) - [HACKED](https://spicewoodchess.org/hacked/) - Unfortunately our website was hacked in 2022. The hackers added code to many files that made it inoperable for many months. I have finally rid the files of their handiwork and the site seems to be back up and running like it was before. It is not as nice looking as it was, but I - [Registration is OPEN](https://spicewoodchess.org/registration-is-open/) - Parents, Registration for the Fall 2022 school year chess club is now OPEN! Please go to this link and follow the instructions. https://spicewoodchess.org/about/registration/ - [Chess club is starting September 9th!!!](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-club-is-starting-september-9th/) - Great news everyone. Our chess club is preparing for club meetings starting on Friday, September 9th. 6:40 to 7:40AM in the library as usual. Dmitriy Belyi will be leading the group and is looking for as many interested parents to help get the club up and running again. If you are interesting in helping, please - [Club registration is closed for the Fall 2019 semester](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-registration-is-closed-for-the-fall-2019-semester/) - Registration closed on September 27th for Chess club. We will re-open registration for two weeks starting in January 6th for any additional students who want to join. We have 109 students in our club this year. Half of those students are in Kindergarten or 1st grade, so we have many beginners this year. - [New Volunteers needed](https://spicewoodchess.org/new-volunteers-needed/) - Good afternoon everyone. The good news is that the school district is going to allow clubs this year. The bad news is that I am stepping down as a volunteer for the Chess club. My original plan was to continue leading the club, but now that two years have passed and my 4th grade - [Covid Compatible Chess Board](https://spicewoodchess.org/covid-compatible-chess-board/) - [Club Update Fall 2020](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-update-fall-2020/) - Hello everyone. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we have suspended all chess club activities. The club meetings have many things working against us that prevent a safe and healthy environment including: Large numbers of kids in the same small room (library). The CDC still recommends ten or less people in the same space which we - [November 15th 2019 Club Meeting](https://spicewoodchess.org/november-15th-2019-club-meeting/) - Today we will show the following video about creating passed pawns. - [November 1st 2019 Club Meeting](https://spicewoodchess.org/november-1st-2019-club-meeting/) - Coach James will be reviewing the Scholar's Mate with the Pawn group by showing the following video: Coach Chris will be reviewing one of the most common opening traps called the Fork trick with the Knights group. The Rooks and Kings groups will complete the last round of their club tournament and then start a - [October 25th 2019 Club meeting](https://spicewoodchess.org/october-25th-2019-club-meeting/) - Coach James will be reviewing the battering ram tactic to the pawns at this week's club meeting. - [Chess Books!!!](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-books/) - Do you know how many books have been published about the game of Chess? Since Chess is such an old game, some estimate that over 100,000 books have been written about it. Even today, over 300 new Chess books are published each year. No one has the time to read all the available Chess books, so - [Chess Stamps](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-stamps/) - Postage stamps are becoming an endangered species as people mail letters less and less. But in the past, stamps were used as an important tool for communications across the world. The popularity of Chess intersects with stamp collecting with many countries around the world issuing stamps depicting Chess related items like grand master images, chess - [T-Shirt contest winner - Leonardo Fernandez](https://spicewoodchess.org/t-shirt-contest-winner-leonardo-fernandez/) - Our judges have voted and the winning design goes to 5th grader Leonardo Fernandez. His design has two cats or panthers playing Chess at a table with one standing up. Around it, text says "The Best Never Rest" Congratulations to Leonardo who wins a $5 chess buck. And thank you to all the students who - [T-shirt Design Contest Entries](https://spicewoodchess.org/t-shirt-design-contest-entries/) - We received nine entries to our t-shirt design contest last Friday. Our parent judges are currently reviewing them all and we plan to choose a winner at this Friday's club meeting. As soon as we have a winner, we will begin working with our shirt vendor to get the design touched up and finalize the - [Pizza Party November 2nd 2019](https://spicewoodchess.org/pizza-party-november-2nd-2019/) - The Spicewood Elementary Chess Club is having a party at the Spicewood Elementary school on Saturday November 2nd from 10:00 to 2:00pm. The event is for 4 hours with pizza arriving around noon. We know Saturday's are a busy day with lots of sports and other activities, so this event is designed for you to come - [Short video on the history of Chess](https://spicewoodchess.org/short-video-on-the-history-of-chess/) - Here is a nice animated video that talks about the origins and history of Chess. We recommend all students watch this and it is only five minutes long. - [2019 Meridian School Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/2019-meridian-school-tournament-results/) - We had 14 students from Spicewood Elementary participate in the Meridian Scholastic Chess tournament on September 14th, 2019. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 35 out of a possible 70 points. (50%) This tournament kind of snuck up on us as - [T-shirt Design Contest](https://spicewoodchess.org/t-shirt-design-contest/) - At today's club meeting, coach Chris announced a design contest for the students to come up with this year's t-shirt design. We wanted to pass out a flyer that outlined this contest, but in the hectic ending of our meeting, we forgot to hand it out. No worries though as we can post it right - [Video for Pawns to Watch](https://spicewoodchess.org/video-for-pawns-to-watch/) - Coach James will be showing the following video at this week's club meeting. It reviews what "check" means, how to check your opponent and how to get your King out of check. If you have time before the meeting, he asks that all Pawns watch this video to be well prepared for Friday. - [September 6th 2019 Club Meeting](https://spicewoodchess.org/september-6th-club-meeting/) - Our third meeting of the year went smoothly as the Pawns continued lessons with James on the basics of controlling the center while Chris reviewed how Forks are a powerful tactic to use in the middlegame with the Knights, Rooks and Kings. A video from Chesskid.com was shown that outlined the fork principles and you - [Club Registration is Open](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-registration-is-open-3/) - Registration for the 2019-2020 school year opened on August 12th. Please click on the About section above and then click on the Registration link. That page gives all the details on the registration process and a link to the Registration Form. You can also click here to go directly to that page. Club registration will end on September - [End of Year Chess Store](https://spicewoodchess.org/end-of-year-chess-store/) - We held our last Chess store event as well as our last Chess club meeting today. 71 students participated, bring all their collected Chess bucks to buy amazing items like Rubik's cubes, Pokemon cards, tshirts, toys, games and a plethora of plastic baubles. Altogether we collected $1,317 Chess bucks. That means the average student spend - [Four player chess set donation](https://spicewoodchess.org/four-player-chess-set-donation/) - Someone donated a four player chess set to the chess club a couple of weeks ago. We unfortunately did not get the name of the teacher or parent that gave us this set but we thank you. If you donated it, please let us know so we can thank you properly. The name of the - [Amazing New Chess Table](https://spicewoodchess.org/amazing-new-chess-table/) - Back in May 2016, a parent, Patrick Ivey, donated a beautiful marble chess set to the chess club. It was too nice for everyday use, so we only brought it out on special occasions. This meant that it sat on a shelf most of the time. Colleen Murphy, mom of club member Jameson Murphy-Hall, saw - [Recent tournament results](https://spicewoodchess.org/recent-tournament-results/) - Congratulations to Nico McMullen for a first place finish at the annual Wooldridge Square outdoor tournament held last Sunday Nov. 4th in downtown Austin. The weather was perfect and so was Nico's chess game. He won all 4 games to win a trophy and capture first place in the K-6 section. Congratulations also goes to - [Chess Club Helpers](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-club-helpers/) - To all the parents that help during our chess club meetings (or are thinking about helping), James and I put together a document that outlines all the tasks we need to perform to have a successful chess club meeting. It is very detailed and gives you a good idea of where you can help out. - [Musketeer Chess Pieces](https://spicewoodchess.org/musketeer-chess-pieces/) - We purchased ten new chess pieces that have unique movements. They are variant chess pieces that are not official, but add some fun to chess play. The ten new chessmen are Archbishop, Cannon, Chancellor, Dragon, Elephant, Fortress, Hawk, Leopard, Spider and Unicorn. You can learn more about how they move on the Musketeer Chess website. - [2018 Meridian Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/2018-meridian-tournament-results/) - We had 29 students from Spicewood Elementary participate in the Meridian Scholastic Chess tournament on September 29th, 2018. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 70 out of a possible 145 points. (48%) This year we have a large number of Pawns - [Micro Chess Set](https://spicewoodchess.org/micro-chess-set/) - Here is a mesmerizing video of someone making a micro size chess set. The video shows how they create the board out of wood complete with a drawer and insert to hold the micro chess pieces. The chess pieces are made of brass metal and created by turning them on a lathe. They are so - [New Bookmark Coming Soon](https://spicewoodchess.org/new-bookmark-coming-soon/) - Each year, we print out bookmarks with Chess related designs for the kids to use. Here is this year's first bookmark design. We hope to have it printed and passed out to the students in the next few weeks. - [Club Meeting - September 21st](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-september-21st/) - Chess club will meet in the gym for the next two weeks. The library is setup for the annual Bookfair and not available to us. We will setup chess boards on the floor as there are no tables/chairs in the gym. Parents may want to consider wearing jeans. Please do not wear shoes with heels - [Club Meeting – September 7th](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-september-7th/) - In today's meeting, James showed the following video to the Pawns group: https://spicewoodchess.org/videos/3%20Basic%20Opening%20Strategy%20Principles%20-%20Chess.mp4 Chris reviewed the Ruy Lopez opening and showed the following video to the Knights group: https://spicewoodchess.org/videos/Chess%20Openings-%20Ruy%20Lopez.mp4 Ruy Lopez is the short name of Rodrigo Lopez de Segura who was a Spanish priest who lived between 1530 and 1580. Ruy Lopez wrote a - [Club Meeting - August 31st](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-august-31st/) - We will be showing this video at tomorrow's meeting to the Knights, Rooks and Kings: https://spicewoodchess.org/videos/Top%208%20Chess%20Mistakes.mp4 The Pawns will watch this video: https://spicewoodchess.org/videos/3%20Basic%20Opening%20Strategy%20Principles%20-%20Chess.mp4 - [Reading Chess Books Earns Chess Bucks!](https://spicewoodchess.org/reading-chess-books-earns-chess-bucks/) - We have new 50 cent Chess bucks that students can earn for checking out and reading chess books from our club library. Here is what the new Chess bucks look like: Our chess club has a nice library of Chess books that are written to help kids improve their game. Kids can check out these - [Upcoming Local Chess Tournament At Meridian World School](https://spicewoodchess.org/upcoming-local-chess-tournament-at-meridian-world-school/) - The 2018 Meridian Chess Tournament takes place on September 29th and is now open for registration (https://www.austinchesstournaments.com/events/869). Please share this information with your students asap! Entry fees are at their lowest right now and go up in September. - [Club Registration is Open](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-registration-is-open-2/) - Registration for the 2018-2019 school year opened on August 15th. Please click on the About section above and then click on the Registration link. That page gives all the details on the registration process and a link to the Registration Form. You can also click here to go directly to that page. Club registration will end on September - [Spicewood Chess Club at Enchanted Rock](https://spicewoodchess.org/spicewood-chess-club-at-enchanted-rock/) - Let's make this a recurring post. Send us photos of yourself wearing your Chess club tshirt from interesting places and we will post them here for everyone to see. Great idea Sean and family! - [New and returning students meet this week](https://spicewoodchess.org/new-and-returning-students-meet-this-week/) - We had a successful first club meeting last week for our returning students. Thank you to our parent volunteers for making the meeting go smoothly. This week, we welcome all of our new students to our club meeting. James is preparing to teach the basics of Chess to our beginning students, so don't worry if - [First Chess Club Meeting for Returning Students](https://spicewoodchess.org/first-chess-club-meeting-for-returning-students/) - All returning Chess club students are invited to our first Chess club meeting on the SECOND day of school, Friday August 17th starting at 6:35am in the Library. All parents are asked to follow the steps to register your student(s) by going to our Registration page located here: https://spicewoodchess.org/about/registration/ The registration fee is the same - [Videos for October 20th Club Meeting](https://spicewoodchess.org/videos-for-october-20th-club-meeting/) - Everyone should watch these two videos on Chess openings. - [September 15th Club Meeting](https://spicewoodchess.org/september-15th-club-meeting/) - Today is the last day to register for Chess club. Make sure you turn in a signed permission form and your registration fee if you haven't already. Today we will show the Pawns group a video on Chesskid about opening moves: https://www.chesskid.com/video/player/first-moves---part-1 Make sure you login to Chesskid before watching it or it will only - [Parent Permission Forms](https://spicewoodchess.org/parent-permission-forms/) - Parents, New this year, the school requires all parents to fill out and submit a permission form allowing your students to attend Chess Club. Please print and fill out this PDF file and turn in to either Ms. Reeb in the library, the office staff or any of the parent volunteers during this - [Parent Volunteers - Please Read](https://spicewoodchess.org/parent-volunteers-please-read/) - In order to be allowed to attend the Chess club meetings with your kids on Friday mornings, parent's are required to fill out paperwork to become an official school volunteer. One of the questions on the registration form contained links to the online and paper version of the volunteer application - [Club Registration Opens](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-registration-opens/) - Registration for the 2016-2017 school year has opened. Please click on the About section above and then click on the Registration link. That page gives some details about the registration process and a link to the Registration Form. You can also click here to go directly to that page. We will be closing club registration - [Club registration opens](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-registration-opens-2/) - Registration for the 2017-2018 school year has opened. Please click on the About section above and then click on the Registration link. That page gives some details about the registration process and a link to the Registration Form. You can also click here to go directly to that page. - [Casis Elementary Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/casis-elementary-tournament-results-2/) - Last weekend, 31 Spicewood chess club members attended the Casis Elementary School chess tournament. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 81 out of a possible 155 points. (52%) Overall, our team won team trophies in 4 sections: 2nd place in sections K-3 U500 and K-3 U800. 3rd - [T-Shirt Day!](https://spicewoodchess.org/t-shirt-day/) - At today's Club meeting, we handed out the new Chess club T-shirts to all attending students. Don't worry if you missed the meeting today, we will get your shirt to you. If you are a parent that ordered one and were not at today's meeting, please come next week and make sure you pay for - [Club registration is open](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-registration-is-open/) - At the beginning of each spring semester, we reopen club registration for a week to allow new students to enroll in the club. Registration is now open until next Friday, January 13th. Please see the instructions on our Registration page on the website: Club Registration - [Chess Club T-shirts!!!](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-club-t-shirts/) - We will be ordering t-shirts at the end of next week. The shirt will look like the mockup image to the left. This year's t-shirt graphic was designed Abigail Yarbrough who won our design contest earlier in the year. The t-shirt material will also be a higher quality than last year's, softer, etc. All Chess club members - [Kealing Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/kealing-tournament-results-2/) - Last weekend, 39 Spicewood chess club members attended the Kealing Middle School chess tournament. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 91.5 out of a possible 189 points. (48%) Overall, our team won a team trophy in all 6 sections we participated in! 1st - [New Chess Bucks](https://spicewoodchess.org/new-chess-bucks/) - At today's club meeting, we handed out newly designed Chess bucks to each student. Our old Chess bucks were getting a bit beat up and we were running out of the lower denominations, so instead of just printing new versions of the same design, we decided to redesign them. Chris Jones did the redesign work - [Queen of Katwe](https://spicewoodchess.org/queen-of-katwe/) - Draden and I watched a great Chess movie this weekend called Queen of Katwe, a PG rated Disney movie. We highly recommend it and think it will do well at the Oscars this year. It has beautiful cinematography, a great script and a glimpse into the wider world around us all. Queen of Katwe is a - [Upcoming Pizza Party and Potluck October 22nd](https://spicewoodchess.org/upcoming-pizza-party-and-potluck-october-22nd/) - The Spicewood Chess Club is holding our annual party at the Spicewood Elementary school on Saturday October 22nd morning from 10:00 to 1:45. We will be playing Chess and having fun with our friends. We will have a few coaches available to work with the students. We will also have out our fun chess sets, LED lightup - [Free Chess Book about the Art and History of Chess Sets](https://spicewoodchess.org/free-chess-book-about-the-art-and-history-of-chess-sets/) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has made available for free a book that goes over the history and art of Chess sets. Chess: East and West, Past and Present published in 1968 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It talks about chess sets from India, China, Japan, Europe and America - [Club Registration Closed](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-registration-closed/) - Please remember that Club registration closed on September 19th. We have 124 students enrolled this year. If you would like to join our Chess club, we will open registration again during the first two weeks in January. Please do not send your kids to Chess club if they are not registered club members. We have limited parent - [Pawns training for October 7: The Fork](https://spicewoodchess.org/pawns-training-for-october-7-the-fork/) - FunMasterMike introduces us to the fun tactic called a Fork in the video below from Chesskid.com. In chess, a fork is a tactic whereby a single piece makes two or more direct attacks simultaneously. Most commonly two pieces are threatened, which is also sometimes called a double attack. The attacker usually aims to gain material - [Knights, Rooks and Kings video for October 7: French Defense Part 1](https://spicewoodchess.org/knights-rooks-and-kings-video-for-october-7-french-defense-part-1/) - At this week's club meeting, the Knights, Rooks and Kings groups will watch a short video on the French defense. The French defense has a reputation for solidity and resilience, though it can result in a somewhat cramped game for Black in the early stages. Black often gains counterattacking possibilities on the queenside while White - [Knights and Rooks video for September 22: Giuoco Piano](https://spicewoodchess.org/knights-and-rooks-video-for-september-22-giuoco-piano/) - The Giuoco Piano is one of the oldest recorded openings. The Portuguese Damiano played it at the beginning of the 16th century and the Italian Greco played it at the beginning of the 17th century. The opening is also known as the Italian Game, although that name is also used to describe all games starting with - [Pawns Training for September 22](https://spicewoodchess.org/pawns-training-for-september-22/) - All beginning students in the Pawns skill group are requested to watch the following videos for this week's lesson preparation: Chesskids video: First moves Every chess game begins with the opening — but what moves should you play? FM Mike Klein shows you the fundamentals behind the ideas of good openings, so you know - [Ecuador Chess Set](https://spicewoodchess.org/ecuador-chess-set/) - At our first club meeting of the year, a family that traveled to the South American country of Ecuador found and bought a handmade chess set. They graciously brought it in for everyone to admire. I took some photos and marveled at the hand painted pieces and very colorful board. I am sorry I can't - [Meridian Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/meridian-tournament-results-2/) - We had 24 students from Spicewood Elementary participate in the Meridian Tournament last weekend. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 64.5 out of a possible 120 points. Six Spicewood students received trophies for scoring in the top percentile of their groups: James - [Tshirt Design Contest Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/tshirt-design-contest-results/) - The Chess Club held a design contest to design our next Tshirt. Today at the club meeting, it was the last day to turn in submissions. A committee of 5 parents reviewed each submission and a clear winner was determined. Congratulations to Abigail Yarbrough for winning this year's contest. We especially liked the panther - [Chess Club Returns This Friday](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-club-returns-this-friday/) - The Chess club welcomes all students back to school and hope everyone had a relaxing and fun summer vacation. Friday, August 26th is the first Friday of the new school year and we invite all returning chess club members to attend starting at 6:30AM. New students are invited to start attending next Friday, September 2nd. Make - [2015-2016 End of School Year Review](https://spicewoodchess.org/2015-2016-end-of-school-year-review-2/) - We come to the conclusion of another fantastic school year and have put together a review of the Chess Club's accomplishments this year. Please look through the file below that outlines all the great things our kids and volunteers have done over the past school year. We look forward to next year with great enthusiasm and - [Summer Chess Camps](https://spicewoodchess.org/summer-chess-camps/) - There are a number of chess camps running this summer that are excellent ways for you to keep improving your Chess skills. We list some of them below: Best in Class Education Center in the Galleria Oaks shopping center on Research at Anderson Mill Rd. is hosting a Chess camp which is run by our - [Cool Chess Kids](https://spicewoodchess.org/cool-chess-kids/) - [Second to Last Club Meeting](https://spicewoodchess.org/second-to-last-club-meeting/) - Last week was our second to last club meeting for this school year. We pulled out our 4 lightup LED chess sets as well as the 4 person chess boards that the kids love playing. Below are some random photos from the meeting. - [Donated Marble Chess Set](https://spicewoodchess.org/donated-marble-chess-set/) - We were surprised two weeks ago when we found a beautiful marble chess set that was donated to the Chess Club by Patrick Ivey. It has a very heavy and thick marble base board and elegantly carved pawns and pieces. We had a couple of kids test it out and they all gave their approval - [April 2016 Laurel Mountain Tournament](https://spicewoodchess.org/april-2016-laurel-mountain-tournament/) - We had 41 students participate at the Laurel Mountain Chess Tournament. Here are some photos of the Saturday event. Congratulations to all of those who won medals and trophies. - [Happy Spring Break](https://spicewoodchess.org/happy-spring-break/) - ing Break - [Casis Elementary Chess Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/casis-elementary-chess-tournament-results/) - The chess club participated in the Casis Elementary chess tournament held on January 30th, 2016. The tournament had over 400 participants and we had 48 students from Spicewood attend. (12% were from Spicewood!) Our students did great winning two 1st place and three 2nd place team trophies. Individual awards were given to 11 students who won trophies - [January Pizza Party](https://spicewoodchess.org/january-pizza-party/) - We had a very successful and fun pizza party and chess training session last Saturday, January 23rd at Spicewood Elementary. Over 80 parents and kids attended, learning more chess techniques to use and traps to watch out for at the upcoming Casis Elementary Chess tournament. Gary Gaiffe and Josh Newsham, local chess experts and private - [Chess Club Tournament Practice and Pizza Party](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-club-tournament-practice-and-pizza-party/) - In order to prepare for the upcoming Casis Elementary Chess tournament on January 30th, the Chess Club is holding a Saturday practice session on January 23rd to help everyone hone their chess skills. All Chess club members are invited to this event, even students who are not planning to attend the Casis tournament. This event starts - [Chess Store Fall 2015](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-store-fall-2015/) - At today's meeting we held our first of two Chess stores. Our students earn Chess bucks for attending our weekly meetings as well as for participating in Chess tournaments. The students can then spend these Chess bucks on fun items like toys, games, books and puzzles during the Chess store event. The Chess store is a great motivational - [Achieving Checkmate with only a King and Queen](https://spicewoodchess.org/achieving-checkmate-with-only-a-king-and-queen/) - [The Knights Tour](https://spicewoodchess.org/the-knights-tour/) - A knight's tour is a sequence of moves of a knight on a chessboard such that the knight visits every square only once. It is an interesting chess puzzle that starts by removing all chess pieces from a chess board and leaving just one knight on any of the 64 squares. The puzzle involves trying to make - [Club Meeting November 6th, 2015](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-november-6th-2015/) - At last Friday's club meeting, the Pawns reviewed two training videos. The first one on the Ruy Lopez opening, also known as the Spanish opening. Chesskid video: What is the Ruy Lopez? The second video that the Pawns reviewed was about a great tactic known as the fork which is where a single piece makes two - [Club meeting photos](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-photos/) - Thank you to Carey McKay for taking some great candid photos during our club meeting on October 16th. She captured the Pawns and Knights skill groups playing in the library as well as the Rooks and Kings playing in the Gym. Looks like everyone is having a good time, with some kids lost in concentration as - [How many chess games are possible?](https://spicewoodchess.org/how-many-chess-games-are-possible/) - Dr. James Grime, a mathematics professor from the University of Cambridge, answers the question, "How many unique games of Chess are there?" There are more unique Chess games than there are atoms in the universe! Think about that. - [Kealing Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/kealing-tournament-results/) - 25 Spicewood Elementary students participated in this past weekend's Kealing Middle School Chess Tournament. Sixteen local elementary schools participated. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 53 out of a possible 125 points. Four Spicewood students received trophies for scoring in the top percentile of - [Kealing Middle School Tournament This Saturday](https://spicewoodchess.org/kealing-middle-school-this-saturday/) - The second scholastic tournament of the year is this Saturday at Kealing Middle School. Good luck to the 28 Spicewood students registered in this tournament. The school is located on North I35 and it takes about 20-25 minutes to drive there from Spicewood Elementary. Google Map of Kealing Middle School We have some helpful advice for all parents to - [Club Meeting October 9th, 2015](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-october-9th-2015/) - With the book fair behind us, we were back to normal with the Pawns and Knights in the library and the Rooks and Kings in the Gym. Today was National Chess Day which was designated by former President Gerald Ford in 1976. It is rare for us to have a club meeting on the same - [Meridian Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/meridian-tournament-results/) - We had 25 students from Spicewood Elementary participate in the Meridian Tournament last weekend. The tournament consisted of 5 rounds of games each worth 1 point. In total, our kids scored a total of 63.5 out of a possible 125 points. Five Spicewood students received trophies for scoring in the top percentile of their groups: - [Club Meeting September 25th, 2015](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-september-25th-2015/) - The Panther pawns will review the following two videos: Every chess game begins with the opening — but what moves should you play? FM Mike Klein shows you the fundamentals behind the ideas of good openings, so you know why to play them, not just how. Learn how important controlling the center is in a - [Beginner Chess Player Recommendations](https://spicewoodchess.org/beginner-chess-player-recommendations/) - PLAY 10 MINUTES EVERY DAY Spending 10 minutes a night playing chess with your child, or having them play their sibling(s) will make a huge difference. If you are a beginner parent, learn chess along with your child. Chess has less rules than Monopoly. Allow your child to play on chesskid.com. Leaving your chess board out and set - [Club Meeting September 18th, 2015](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-september-18th-2015/) - The Knights group will review the following two videos on opening strategy. Chesskid video: The Four Knights Opening Howcast video: 3 Basic Opening Strategy Principles - [Meridian Tournament This Saturday](https://spicewoodchess.org/meridian-tournament-this-saturday/) - The first scholastic tournament of the year is this Saturday at Meridian School. There are 22 Spicewood students registered in this tournament. The school is located on North I35 and it takes about 20-25 minutes to drive there from Spicewood Elementary. Google Map of Meridian School We have some helpful advice for all parents to - [Club Meeting September 11th, 2015](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-september-11th-2015/) - The Panther Pawns will review how to setup the board, how the pieces move and the rules of castling. They will watch this video: ChessKids video: Castling! The Knights will watch a video on the the Ruy Lopez opening, also known as the Spanish opening. ChessKids video: Ruy Lopez Opening HowCast video: The Rooks and Kings will begin - [Club Meeting September 4th 2015](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-meeting-september-4th-2015/) - At this week's meeting, the new club members will arrive. We ask all returning club members to make sure and help the new kids feel welcome and help them learn how our club sets up each Friday. We will watch the ten golden moves video and then make a few announcements to the kids and - [Rooks and Kings: Fried Liver Attack](https://spicewoodchess.org/rooks-and-kings-fried-liver-attack/) - The Rooks and Kings groups will be reviewing the Fried Liver attack at this week's meeting. The Fried Liver Attack, also called the Fegatello Attack (named after an Italian idiom meaning “dead as a piece of liver”), is a classic chess opening. This colorfully named opening is a variation of the Two Knights Defense in - [Club Rules Posted](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-rules-posted/) - We have posted the rules of our Chess Club for all parents and kids to review. With any large group of people, it is important that we understand what is expected during our club meetings so we can all have a good time while learning the game of Chess. You can view the rules - [Phases of a Chess Game](https://spicewoodchess.org/phases-of-a-chess-game/) - At tomorrow's Chess club meeting, we have only returning students attending. New students will start the following week. Here is a short 7 minute video we plan to watch during tomorrow's meeting on the three phases of a Chess game. The Opening, the Middlegame and the Endgame. Phases of the Chess game Chesskid video You - [New Skill Groups This Year](https://spicewoodchess.org/new-skills-groups-this-year/) - In the past we had seven different chess skill groups that we used to split up our players. Panthers, Groups A, B, C, D, E and T. This year, we decided to simplify into four skill groups: [table id=19 /] The coaches and club leadership will have the ability to move players into - [First Scholastic Chess Tournament](https://spicewoodchess.org/first-scholastic-chess-tournament/) - Austin's first scholastic tournament of the 2015-16 school year is open for registration. Come join us at the Meridian School on September 19th! (limited to the first 350 entries) This Saturday, August 29th is the last day to register to get the discounted entrance fee of $25. Entry fee pricing is staggered and based on - [August Chesskids contest results](https://spicewoodchess.org/august-chesskids-contest-results/) - We held a Chesskid.com contest this last week to see who would play the most fast chess games, attempt the most puzzles and watch the most training videos. Here are the results: Congratulations to all of the participates who each get Chess Bucks for playing. We will hold many more of these contests - [Welcome to Spicewood Meeting](https://spicewoodchess.org/welcome-to-spicewood-meeting/) - Today the PTA and Spicewood staff held a Get to Know Spicewood Elementary meeting for new 1st - 5th grade parents and students from 8-9 AM in the library. The students were given a tour of the school while the parents met with the school staff and listened to details about what to expect the - [Summer Chess Camp](https://spicewoodchess.org/summer-chess-camp/) - Local chess expert Gary Gaiffe is leading a chess camp the first week of August (3rd - 8th) at the Best in Class Education center located in the Galleria Oaks Shopping Center at Anderson Mill and Highway 183. Gary runs many of the local scholastic chess tournaments and he visited one of our club meetings in January to perform a - [2014-2015 End of School Year Review](https://spicewoodchess.org/end-of-school-year-review/) - Our Chess Club had a fantastic year and to end on a high note, we decided to put together a review of our accomplishments. Please look through the file below that outlines all the great things our kids and volunteers have done over the past school year. We look forward to next year with great enthusiasm and - [Club Sponsor Thank You](https://spicewoodchess.org/club-sponsor-thank-you/) - Last week, we asked for donations from the parents in order to give thank you gift cards to three hardworking school staff that help make our club so successful. Those donations were used to purchase three Target gift cards that were given to the following awesome people: Laura Reeb has been our hardworking club sponsor who - [Amazon Shopping](https://spicewoodchess.org/amazon-shopping/) - We are testing the Amazon Associates program that allows you to purchase goods on Amazon.com and at the same time, gives a small percentage reward to our Spicewood Chess Club account. Each quarter, we should receive an update with how much we have earned in the form of an Amazon reward card that we can - [Last Club Meeting of the Year](https://spicewoodchess.org/last-club-meeting-of-the-year/) - Today was our last club meeting of the school year. We celebrated by bringing out the LED Chess sets and the 4 way Chess sets for kids to play. Ms. Kim also stopped by and spoke to the group to tell them they did a great job this year and to encourage them to keep playing Chess - [End of Year Bookmark](https://spicewoodchess.org/end-of-year-bookmark/) - At today's meeting we also gave out bookmarks to everyone. They were nicely printed and laminated by Jenn's Copy and Binding. Please make sure to read the message on the back! - [May 2015 Chess Store](https://spicewoodchess.org/may-2015-chess-store/) - We held the last Chess Store of the school year today. Thank you to all the volunteers who manned the store and helped make it a successful and fun event. Here are a few photos from the event: Remember, if you have any leftover Chess Bucks from this year, you can always use them next year - [Chess Club Yearbook Page](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-club-yearbook-page/) - The 2014-2015 school yearbooks were delivered this week and our club has a nice one page layout with many photos of our club members. Thanks to all the people who worked on the yearbook and made it so nice. Here is a scan of the page, can you find yourself in the photos? - [Chess Store This Friday](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-store-this-friday/) - The Chess Club Store will be open this Friday morning, May 15th. Please remember to bring your Chess Bucks to Friday's meeting. Volunteers are needed. Please contact Terri Schlosser at tbuchana@gmail.com. - [Chess Library Books Due](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess-library-books-due/) - If you borrowed a chess book this year, please return it this Friday. All chess club property needs to be returned. Below are photos of the covers for each of the chess books we loan out to students. If you have any of these books at home that were borrowed from the Chess Club, please return them to Ms. - [En Passant](https://spicewoodchess.org/en-passant/) - En passant is a special pawn capture move that can only occur immediately after a pawn moves two ranks forward from its starting position, and an enemy pawn could have captured it had the pawn moved only one square forward. The opponent captures the just-moved pawn "as it passes" through the first square. The resulting position is the - [Fried Liver Attack](https://spicewoodchess.org/fried-liver-attack/) - At this morning's chess club meeting, we showed a Chesskid.com video on the Fried Liver Attack opening. Chesskid.com Video The Fried Liver Attack, also called the Fegatello Attack (named after an Italian idiom meaning "dead as a piece of liver"), is a chess opening. This colorfully named opening is a variation of the Two Knights - [Knight Shadow](https://spicewoodchess.org/knight-shadow/) - At Friday's club meeting, we showed a video on achieving checkmate with only a King and Queen. The Queen is used to drive the opponent's King into a corner by using the Knight's shadow technique. Care must be taken to leave some room for the opponent's King to move, to avoid a stalemate position. The - [Giant Chess at Wooldridge Park](https://spicewoodchess.org/giant-chess-at-wooldridge-park/) - Every Saturday afternoon from 12:30 to 3:30, when the weather permits, the Austin Parks Foundation sets up a giant chess set in the white gazebo at Wooldridge Park in downtown Austin. You can see posts and photos on their Facebook page. - [Mountain Laurel Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/mountain-laurel-tournament-results/) - Spicewood Elementary students participated in the Mountain Laurel Elementary Chess Tournament on Saturday, April 11th, 2015. Congratulations to all of our students who participated in this tournament. - [We never lose](https://spicewoodchess.org/we-never-lose/) - [Laurel Mountain Tournament This Weekend](https://spicewoodchess.org/laurel-mountain-tournament-this-weekend/) - The last scholastic tournament of the school year is this Saturday, April 11th at Laurel Mountain Elementary. There will be NO onsite registration, and your last chance to register online is this Wednesday, April 8th by midnight. This tournament has a 400 player cap and they are already at 390, so if you are planning - [Scholar's Mate](https://spicewoodchess.org/scholars-mate/) - At today's Chess Club meeting, we showed a video on how to anticipate and defend against the Scholar's Mate. The Scholar's Mate is sometimes referred to as the "Four-Move Checkmate", although there are other ways to checkmate in four moves. We also introduced the students to the "Squares of Doom", which are the weakest squares on the - [The Noble Game - A Short Film](https://spicewoodchess.org/the-noble-game-a-short-film/) - This is a ~30 minute short film that documents scholastic chess in France. It follows kids and parents as they compete in a tournament to earn a spot in the French championship tournament. While it is in French, it has subtitles and worth watching to get a better understanding of the tournament experience. - [Flickr integration](https://spicewoodchess.org/flickr-integration/) - Just testing the integration of Flickr photos into a post. Here are some photos from past tournaments. Here is the link to our photostream. [slickr-flickr tag="Tournaments"] - [Facebook Page and New Posts](https://spicewoodchess.org/facebook-page-and-new-posts/) - We have setup a Facebook page for those who want to follow new posts. This message should automatically post to this new Facebook page located at this URL: facebook.com/SpicewoodChessClub Please take a moment to visit the this new Facebook page and "like" it. - [3 Things to Consider](https://spicewoodchess.org/3-things-to-consider/) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj8EwL-mrDE - [Embed Chess Games](https://spicewoodchess.org/knightvision-pgn-game-play/) - KnightVision provides a method to embed chess games from an existing PGN file and allows the viewer to "step" through the game for analysis and review. PGN - [Embed PDF, PowerPoint, Excel files](https://spicewoodchess.org/embed-pdf-powerpoint-excel-files/) - We can now embed tutorial materials in PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, etc. into new posts. Microsoft PowerPoint example: [gview file="https://spicewoodchess.org/documents/Introduction_to_Chess.ppt" save="1"] Adobe PDF example: [gview file="https://spicewoodchess.org/documents/Benefits_of_Chess_in_Education.pdf" save="1"] Microsoft Word example: [gview file="https://spicewoodchess.org/documents/Guide_to_Scholastic_Chess_2009.doc" save="1"] - [Understanding Pawn Structure](https://spicewoodchess.org/understanding-pawn-structure/) - This video was shown during our Friday Chess Club meeting about basic pawn structures. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_ZLnKU4f7g - [Spring Break Chesskid Contest Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/spring-break-chesskid-contest-results/) - Over spring break, we held a contest to see who played the most games of chess and who completed the most puzzles on Chesskid.com. Here are the results: Congratulations to DisgustingDog for winning the most games played AND solving 86 puzzles correctly. Everyone who participated will receive Chess Bucks at the next Club meeting. - [Casis Elementary Tournament Results](https://spicewoodchess.org/casis-elementary-tournament-results/) - 20 Spicewood Elementary students participated in the Casis Elementary Chess Tournament on Saturday, March 7th 2015. After 5 rounds of chess, plenty of practice chess in the cafeteria and some outdoor playtime, we had a number of students win medals and trophies in their respective sections. Congratulations to all of our students who participated in this - [Upcoming Laurel Mountain Elementary Tournament](https://spicewoodchess.org/upcoming-laurel-mountain-elementary-tournament/) - The 2015 Austin Area Scholastic and Open Championships will be held at Laurel Mountain Elementary Saturday, April 11, 2015. This is the final tournament of the school year. If your child has not yet attended a tournament, this is the last scholastic tournament of the school year. Students are not expected to attend every round and may miss - [PGN Files](https://spicewoodchess.org/pgn-files/) - A PGN file is a text file that contains all the details of a single chess game, including each move, step by step until the conclusion of the game. PGN files are very useful teaching tools. This is an amazing PGN of “The Game of the Century” between Bobby Fischer and Donald Byrne. [pgn] [Event - [Hungarian Chess Set](https://spicewoodchess.org/hungarian-chess-set/) - Searching on Ebay, one can come across some interesting Chess related items. The photos below are of a Hungarian chess set made of sterling silver, gold and enameled with stones. The item description states it was once owned by a royal family. Can you guess how much they are selling it for? $180,000! Who knows - [Embed Chess Video Training](https://spicewoodchess.org/embed-chess-video-training/) - We can also embed training videos directly into a post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbpOS_GI8jY - [First post](https://spicewoodchess.org/hello-world/) - This website was setup on March 5th, 2015. We hope that this site will help our students and parents learn more about the game of Chess. We also have the ability to post chess games from PGN files as well as arbitrarily set positions on a chess board. [fen]rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/2BPPB2/2P2P2/PP1NN1PP/R2QK2R b KQkq - 0 1[/fen] This ## Pages - [Registration](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/registration/) - Registration is OPEN for academic year 2026-2027 Six steps to registering you and your students in Spicewood Elementary Chess Club: Step 1: Fill out registration information: Use the following link that takes you to the Google Form we use to register all students. All returning and new students must register using this form: Registration Form - [About](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/) - The Spicewood Elementary Chess Club is a volunteer group run by parents to promote increased knowledge and understanding of the game of chess as an art as well as an intellectual sport. We are a school sponsored club that get all of our funding from the one-time registration fee paid at the beginning of the - [Chess in Art](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/chess-in-art/) - The iconography of chess and checkered surfaces has influenced art through the ages. Especially after 1000, when checkered surfaces also became connected to the chessboard. Chess became a source of inspiration in the arts in literature soon after the spread of the game to the Arab World and Europe in the Middle Ages. The earliest - [Chess Sets](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess/chess-sets/) - The Spicewood Elementary Chess Club provides each classroom with a chess set and chess training books for students to use during any available free time. We have 75 weighted chess sets and 25 non-weighted chess sets available for our club members to use during our Friday meetings. Unique Chess Sets Below are images of unique - [T-shirt Design Contest Rules](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/t-shirts/rules/) - All submissions for the t-shirt design contest should be original work. No copying designs from previous shirts or from pictures found on the Internet. The entry must use the following: Chess related images like the pieces, or checkerboard, etc. The name of the club (Spicewood Elementary Chess Club) Some reference to the Panther mascot The - [Chess Variants](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess/chess-variants/) - Chess is such a popular game it has generated many versions that play differently. We call these unique games Chess variants or Fairy Chess. There are many examples, but most people have heard of 3D Chess made popular on the TV series Star Trek. Another is called Battle Chess which is video game where the - [Web Library](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/library/web-library/) - [weblib_searchform] [weblib_itemlist holdbutton=0 inlinemcreinfo=1] - [Student Groups](https://spicewoodchess.org/groups/) - In the early days of the Spicewood Elementary Chess Club, we only had three groups that we split the students into: groups A, B and C. Group C was designated as for the advanced chess players. Over time as the number of students increased, we expanded the number of groups to seven. Panthers for beginners, - [T-shirts](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/t-shirts/) - Each year, our club purchases T-shirts for all of our members, parent coaches and school staff and teachers. We ask everyone to wear these shirts during club meetings and local tournaments to promote the club. Parents can purchase extra shirts for themselves using an online form found here: Parent's extra T-shirt order form School staff are - [Clocks](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess/clocks/) - A game clock consists of two adjacent clocks with buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, so that the two clocks never run simultaneously. Game clocks are used in two-playergames where the players move in turn. The purpose is to keep track of the total time each player takes for his or her - [Rules](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/rules/) - SPICEWOOD ELEMENTARY CHESS CLUB RULES Chess Club starts at 6:30AM on Friday mornings. Please be on time. Be polite to your fellow students, coaches and parents. Follow Spicewood IB attributes and attitudes. No eating, drinking, running, or horseplay. Chess pieces and clocks are breakable. Treat Chess Club property kindly. If you find Chess Bucks, they - [ChessKid](https://spicewoodchess.org/training/chesskids/) - Chesskid.com is an educational website for younger chess players. It contains training videos for all skill levels, puzzles, and the ability for players to play other people including other students from the Spicewood Chess Club. The Spicewood Chess Club pays an annual fee to Chesskid.com in order to be able to provide students with a - [Pawns](https://spicewoodchess.org/groups/pawns-2/) - Absolute beginner students. These are kinder and 1st graders who do not have any chess experience at the start of the school year. Like learning any other language, children at this age are able to learn chess at an astonishing speed. Many of these students quickly become strong players. Some are able to defeat their - [Kings](https://spicewoodchess.org/groups/kings/) - Advanced and typically older students. Many Kings students have attended Chess Club since kindergarten or first grade. Majority attend all regional scholastic tournaments. After graduating from Spicewood, most will join the Canyon Vista Middle School chess team, along with students from Laurel Mountain Elementary producing one of the strongest scholastic chess teams in the country. - [Library](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/library/) - SPICEWOOD CHESS CLUB INTERNAL CHESS LIBRARY The chess club has a large internal collection of books available for chess club students and parents to borrow. Books may be checked out for 2 weeks at a time. The school library also has many of the same books for loan. BOOKS FOR BEGINNER STUDENTS: CHESS FOR - [Sponsors](https://spicewoodchess.org/sponsors/) - The Spicewood Chess Club is a member of the WholesaleChess.com's affiliate program. This means that if you want to purchase chess gear online, and decide to buy it from wholesalechess.com, the club will get 10% of your purchase to use on new equipment. All you have to do is click the following link and then - [Glossary](https://spicewoodchess.org/glossary/) - [Rooks](https://spicewoodchess.org/groups/rooks/) - Intermediate players who have moved up from the Knights group. Many of these students started in the Panther Pawns group. These students are the backbone of the chess club and strongly represent Spicewood at regional scholastic tournaments. Most progress to the Spicewood Kings group. - [Knights](https://spicewoodchess.org/groups/knights/) - After learning the basics of chess in the Pawns group, the Knights now focus on learning beginning tactics and strategies. Knights eventually graduate to the Rooks group. - [Recommended Chess Equipment](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/recommended_chess_eq/) - By purchasing the items using the links below, 10 percent of your purchase goes directly back to the Spicewood Elementary Chess Club via WholesaleChess.com's Affiliate program. Mousepad Chess Board (22 inch square) Unrolls flat every time, unlike normal vinyl boards that get creased when folded or rolled up. Comes in two sizes, 20 inch - [Calendar](https://spicewoodchess.org/calendar/) - [Training](https://spicewoodchess.org/training/) - This section will contain useful resources for our students to train and hone their chess skills. Chess board coordinate training: Lichess.org Mate in One puzzle website: www.mateinone.com - [Chess](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess/) - This page contains information about how learning to play chess improves a student's focus, critical thinking, attention to detail, problem solving, logic, and consequences. There are many examples of this as seen in the video below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9O-bNoy0Mo Above is a 4-minute video on the implementation of chess in Madison City (Ala.) Schools and its impact - [Quotes](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/quotes/) - It’s very important not to put pressure on a child. Make sure that she/he feels that whatever happens it’s not the end of the world. If they cry after a loss that’s normal, as adults also hate to lose. If they win a game you should make them feel very proud but make sure they - [Endgames](https://spicewoodchess.org/training/endgames/) - The final part of a chess game is known as the endgame or ending. It is the stage of the game where only a few pieces are left on the board. Usually in the endgame, the stronger side (the one with more material using the standard piece point count system) should try to exchange pieces - [Links](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/links/) - Chess is popular worldwide and many people have created clubs, groups, associations and other organizations devoted to the game. This page lists local, state, and international groups of chess players. [table id=13 /] [table id=12 /] [table id=15 /] - [Rules](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess/rules/) - The video below explains the basic chess rules in less than 10 minutes! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlTEQZ5Sy4E - [History](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/history/) - Below are some interesting videos about the history of the game of chess. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx1BeqFPP2c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUwv_Fj_4gI - [Tournaments](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess/tournaments/) - The 2015 Austin Area Scholastic and Open Championships will be held at Laurel Mountain Elementary Saturday, April 11, 2015. Students are not expected to attend every round and may miss multiple rounds for other activities by requesting a bye. If your child has not yet attended a tournament, this is the last scholastic tournament of the - [Advice](https://spicewoodchess.org/about/advice/) - SPICEWOOD ELEMENTARY CHESS CLUB RESOURCES FOR BEGINNER CHESS PLAYERS PLAY 10 MINUTES EVERY DAY Spending 10 minutes a night playing chess with your child, or having them play their sibling(s) will make a huge difference. If you are a beginner parent, learn chess along with your child. Chess has less rules than Monopoly. Allow your - [Chesskid.com Setup Instructions](https://spicewoodchess.org/training/chesskids/chesskids-com-setup-instructions/) - If you are new to Chesskid.com, please use these instructions to set up your child's account on Chesskid.com 1) Goto www.chesskid.com 2) Click the large "SIGN UP" button 3) We will first setup a Parent/Coach account. Click the "PARENT/COACH" button. 4) Choose an avatar and click the "NEXT" button. The avatar is not important and - [Openings](https://spicewoodchess.org/training/openings/) - How to start a game of chess requires an opening strategy. There are many popular openings with colorful names to help remember them. There is a great description and classification of common chess openings on Wikipedia that is worth study. Test Your Opening Knowledge 1 Test Your Opening Knowledge 2 Here is a list of - [Tutors](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess/tutors/) - Austin is fortunate to have many good chess tutors that are available for private lessons to help your child improve their Chess game. Here is a list of tutors in the Austin area. [table id=18 /] If you are a chess tutor and would like to be listed here, please send a message to Chris - [Store](https://spicewoodchess.org/chess/store/) - During the year, students are given Chess Bucks each time they attend our Friday morning meetings. Chess Bucks are also given to students who attend tournaments as well as win any contests we hold. Twice a year, the club opens up a Chess Store, where the students can use their Chess Bucks to buy various ## Categories - [General](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/general/) - [Event](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/event/) - [News](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/news/) - [Training](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/training/) - [Game review](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/game-review/) - [Pawns](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/pawns/) - [Knights](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/knights/) - [Rooks](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/rooks/) - [Kings](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/kings/) - [Panthers](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/panthers/) - [Tournament](https://spicewoodchess.org/category/tournament/) ## Picture tag - [We had a chess board setup with a timer](https://spicewoodchess.org/ngg_tag/we-had-a-chess-board-setup-with-a-timer/) - [books that we use to teach as well as an informational flyer for parents.](https://spicewoodchess.org/ngg_tag/books-that-we-use-to-teach-as-well-as-an-informational-flyer-for-parents/) - [This image shows the Knight's shadow which is a Chess term used when using a Queen to Checkmate a lone King.](https://spicewoodchess.org/ngg_tag/this-image-shows-the-knights-shadow-which-is-a-chess-term-used-when-using-a-queen-to-checkmate-a-lone-king/) - [This side shows the upcoming Fall Scholastic Chess tournament schedule.](https://spicewoodchess.org/ngg_tag/this-side-shows-the-upcoming-fall-scholastic-chess-tournament-schedule/)