Chess School Curriculum

Start at Square One
Chess Magnet School includes numerous interactive chess lessons that build a solid foundation for learning. The first level covers setting up the board, moving and capturing pieces, special moves (promotion, castling and "en passant"), check, checkmate and stalemate. Challenges such as "See a Mate", "Find a Mate", "Make a Mate" and "Stop a Mate" build competency in the important area of checkmate. Numerous exercises help the budding player learn the basics of the game in a compelling, interactive environment.

Tactics Take the Lead
Learning continues with a focus on tactics. Unlike most teaching systems, which start with the memorization of opening moves, Chess Magnet begins with the "bread and butter" of the game, chess tactics. The study of tactics teaches the critical skills of judgment, planning, logic and caution. Chess Magnet provides a thorough foundation in tactics including discovered check, safe and unsafe squares, pieces attacked and defended, forks, pins, skewers, vulnerable defenders, exposing the king, clearance, defensive maneuvers and forced moves.

Fight to the Finish
The next level teaches the fundamentals of endgames and at the same time, introduces long-range planning. Students learn the keys to winning and drawing in the endgame, including checkmate techniques, opposition, passed pawns, pawn promotion, and how to use their pieces effectively.

The Test of Battle
The course continues, teaching the goals of the opening which are development, mobility, center control and king safety. Players study patterns that arise from the opening, and they encouinter typical middlegame and endgame situations. As they progress to higher levels, they are called upon to test their skills against a tough computer program. Students learn to accomplish specific goals, even when facing a strong opponent.

Chess Magnet not only trains students in a systematic manner, but it also tests them in battle - teaching them to transfer their new skills to real life situations.

See the Lesson Guide for additional information on the Chess School curriculum.

The Chess Magnet curriculum is based on methods developed by Harlan Lee, a chess master, certified coach, and professional educator. These methods have undergone three years of testing and honing at some two dozen schools with great success.

Students are automatically challenged with a personalized course of instruction. Steady progress builds their enthusiasm, as students master valuable skills and learn to transfer these skills to new situations.

Students progress at their own pace, receive immediate feedback on their performance, and learn by repetition as well as learn through a wide variety of interesting challenges.

The curriculum is based on a defined set of learning objectives. Each objective represents a separate chess skill or concept. Numerous exercises help students learn, practice and master each objective.

Chess Magnet provides an excellent set of tools for scholastics. Students build their chess and computer skills at the same time, while mastering the reasoning skills essential for higher learning.

Students progress through a series of lessons. These lessons start with basic concepts and gradually introduce more complex topics including checkmate, coordination of force, attack and defense, tactics, endgames and openings.

Parents, teachers, and chess coaches can use Chess Magnet as a resource for improving their own chess, monitoring their students' progress, and pinpointing areas that need more attention.

The system monitors each student’s progress and advances them based on their performance. Easier exercises continue to be presented from time to time, both to boost confidence and to reinforce past learning.

Coaches are able to select topics that the system will emphasize, either for individual students or for an entire class, thus coordinating the Chess Magnet curriculum with their personal training

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