Checkmate Tournaments Chess Extras
Benefits of Chess
Las Vegas Adult Chess Locations
Online Chess Games
Las Vegas International Chess Tournaments
USCF
Chess Notes
Benefits of Chess
~How Chess Can Benefit Your Child~
Chess Can Improve Grades
While Chess is a game, it develops some of the same abilities needed to understand math, such as logic and analytical skills. Students must analyze and evaluate the positions of chess pieces, and apply logic to determine the best move. Research has found chess can improve reading test scores and school performance in math. These benefits are linked to the skills obtained through learning and perfecting the game.
Chess Can Improve Personal Behavior
Playing the game of chess allows students to practice decision making, concentration and self-control in a fun way. The outcome of the game depends upon how the player decides to move the chess pieces. Learning to play chess helps children consider potential outcomes of their choices and understand the relation between action and consequence.
Chess Builds Confidence
Winning a chess game is not reliant on size, age, or strength like physical games such as basketball, football, or soccer. A young child can easily beat an adult at chess. Neither is Chess a game of chance. Children gain confidence and responsibility when they understand it is their good decisions that lead them to experiencing victory rather than defeat.
For further reading, please visit any of the following sites
Nevada Chess, Inc.
Chess for Students
Benefits of Chess for Youth
The United States Chess Federation
Las Vegas Adult Chess Locations
For those looking to get involved in the chess scene, there are several Las Vegas chess clubs availible to adults. Most of these clubs require membership with the USCF, but they can often register you onsite and the rates are resonable. If you do not know how to play chess, I would find some resources online as this is not always a great place to learn the game. If the chess club is large enough you will find some inexperienced players, but the majority are serious chess players that are quite strong. Do not underestimate any kids that you may see there. Any kids at this event are taking chess very seriously and will play as strong as many of the adults there.
Here is a list of recommended Las Vegas chess clubs:
Nevada Chess, Inc.
An up to date list of all of the chess clubs for adults in Las Vegas. Some will allow kids to participate, but most are too advanced for beginning players.Clark County Chess Club
UMC, School of Medicine Building
Rated and casual chess.
2040 W. Charleston Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89104
Mondays and Thursdays, 6:45 pm – 10:30 pm.
If you know of any other chess events that the list is missing, please let me know.
Online Chess Games
Game Knot
A good site for free games of correspondence chess.
Yahoo Chess Games
Another good site which is also free, but for live chess. This will link will take you directly to the login page. Just logon or create an account and it will take you to their chess site. Make sure to look at the time controls before starting a game, otherwise you may join a game with only a minute to think of all of your moves.
Las Vegas International Chess Tournaments
~Scholastic Trophy Tournament~
Thursday June 10th to Sunday June 13th there will be a large chess tournament being held at South Point Hotel and Casino. This event will be rated by the USCF, so you will need to be registered with them to compete. This kids chess tournament will seperated into 3 groups by age and ability, and will be game in 30 (each player will have 30 minutes to complete their game). They also have a 5 second delay on the clocks which means each kid will always have at least 5 seconds to complete their move without losing time.
This is an excellent way to really boost your kids ability at chess because they will get a chance to see alot of really talented chess players. Chess instruction can only go so far, if you want to get better you need to play as many different players as possible. This will not only allow your kid to play new kids, but it will also allow them to see how really serious players play. There is also lessons availible at this event, Grand Master Susan Polgar will be giving lessons for any kids that sign up for the chess camp.
To sign up for either of these events click here and select either Scholastic Chess Tournament, Chess Camp, or both. You can sign up the day of the event, but they will charge you a late fee.
USCF
The United States Chess Federation
Chess Notes
The formula for getting good at chess is very simple. A good instructor should be availible to help answer questions and guide your kid's progress, as he or she practices using these methods.
Play lots of chess games with lots of different kids who are close to your playing level. Playing very strong players is good as it will show you better ways to play, but playing them too often will discourage and demotivate you. Also if you only play strong players it will make it hard for you to try new things, as they will often fail. Playing much weaker players is also good, because bad moves lead to very unique positions and it will get you out of the rhythms strong play unfortunately tends to encourage. Of course playing them too often is also bad because you will not be punished for your mistakes and will begin to make them more often. For these reasons most of your chess games should be played against someone your own level, and maybe every ten so games you should try and play someone much stronger or much weaker then you.
Watch or read about other games played by stronger opponents. I have included a few of my own games on this website that you can read about. There are also a lot of books available that will allow you to read about master games. Any time you look over a game, you should always have a board handy and play the game out over the board. This will require some knowledge on how to read chess notation. If you don’t know how to read chess notation, ask an instructor at the next tournament or class and we will be happy to teach you.
Personal Games & Video
My Chess Games, Chess Game 1 (3-3-2010) Sicilian Defense
Recommended Chess Books
"The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played" by Irving Chernev
"5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games" by Laszlo Polgar
Write down your games. This should only be done once you reach a certain level, as it can be distracting, but it is invaluable at higher play. Most of the mistakes you make on a chessboard, happen over and over again. By writing down your games we can see your mistakes easier and help you correct them. Kids are usually ready to write down their games when they get to 300 by my rating system. Every game you play against a higher rated player, and every game you play at a national tournament should be written down.
Practice chess puzzles. Tactics are a large part of chess and the best way to get good at them is will puzzles. Some of these chess puzzles will show you a chess board and ask you to find a way to force a checkmate in two moves, others will ask you to find a move that wins a queen, but all of them ask you to gain a significant advantage in a short time. Below are a few good puzzle books, have your kid try out a few puzzles before buying anything because it might be too easy or too hard for them.
I hope this helps, as with most games the secret to getting better is practice, and interest in the game.
Interested in knowing more? Contact Friday, the friendly owner and chess instructor,
with your questions and thoughts at (702) 339-6821 or