As a scholastic chess coach, I'm always revisiting my assumptions about chess pedagogy and revising my approach to teaching the game. For instance, I used to focus intensely on teaching endgames to my students. Then it occurred to me that students were very rarely reaching theoretical endings in their games.  Another trap I find many chess coaches and trainers falling into is to drill a narrow opening repertoire and expect their students to remember it in play. This approach is great in theory but also works poorly in practice.

More recently, in reviewing scholastic games I noticed that within a single game there are often  mating attacks possible for both sides. The simple determining factor for who wins is which player notices the opportunity when it presents itself. Accordingly, I've started to focus on teaching checkmate patterns and common checkmating attack motifs with my students. We frequently revisit this core teaching point with different themes. 

I have only been using this approach for a short time but already my students are recognizing more mating possibilities in their games. They're even sending me examples from home games that match the theme from our lesson each week. To my own surprise, I'm finding and constructing mating patterns in my own online blitz games that I certainly would have missed before. 

The book I'm working through with my students is called 1,500 Forced Mates.  is now available in paperback (and through Forward Chess as an e-book). The publisher is Elk and Ruby Press. If you’re not familiar with them, I highly recommend their endgame studies collections as well as Strategic Plans, 75 Modern Battles. But it was 1,500 Forced Mates that has made the greatest difference in my work as a coach and teacher. As the title suggests it contains 1,500 positions assorted into 31 chapters, each dedicated to a single tactical method described in detail and with a  mini introduction. In this way it systematizes methods for delivering forced mate via sacrifices, vacation, attraction, elimination, seizing the square, discovered and double checks, and much more. The latter chapters are combination, where the themes are combined and used to test the readers absorption of the material thus far presented.

The author of the book, Jakov Geller, was born in Moscow in 1986 and achieved the grandmaster title in 2011. Jakov has been one of Russia’s top modern coaches since 2007 and his pupils have included Grandmasters Ivan Bukavshin and Alexandr Predke, International Masters Darsen Sanzhaev, Alexey Mokshanov, and Rudik Makarian, and WGM Dinara Dordzhieva. The Russian team that Jakov coached in 2009 took first place in the U16 Olympiad and he was named Children’s Trainer of the Year in 2010 by the Russian Chess Federation.

When looking for material on teaching checkmate there's no shortage of options. The classic Polgar compendium Chess comes to mind, as does the wonderful 202 Checkmates for Children by Fred Wilson, which I have used as a teaching resource for years and highly recommend. However, I was delighted to discover a new book that was published just this year that has one of the finest collections of checkmate puzzles ever assembled. I encourage you to check out 1,500 Forced Mates.

—Greg Keener, FIDE Arbiter

Just recently, it was announced that all adults in the United States are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine (currently a prerequisite for re-entering the Marshall Chess Club). But what if your appointment is still weeks away? Here is one solution: a physical chessboard that moves pieces on its own, presented by SquareOff:


(The SquareOff Neo)

As the co-founder of a start-up myself, I've always enjoyed supporting passion projects on sites like Kickstarter and IndieGogo. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised a few years ago to see that a team of engineers in India were working on manufacturing such an innovative chessboard. To me it seemed like the best of both worlds: an OTB experience coupled with the ability to play anyone online via their network, which of late has partnered with chess.com.

Now normally, I don't go for first-generation hardware, whether it's a PlayStation or a Tesla or anything in between, because they often can have some bugs. But I'm indebted to my fellow consumers who buy these products and serve as the beta audience. Their feedback and reviews allow us to make better informed decisions. As for SquareOff, it's my turn to pay it forward!

I bought the Kingdom Set and my experience has mostly been positive. First of all, the board and pieces are beautiful. The size and look would make it a suitable centerpiece on a coffee table or a desk. Playing against the AI is quick and easy to set up. There are twenty levels of difficulty each with a corresponding ELO rating for context. To move your own piece, you simply press it against its square (confirmed with a beep), and then touch the destination square. The pieces move with the help of the mechanical arm underneath the board. But I have to say, watching your invisible opponent move is one of the coolest experiences I've had playing chess.

The negatives? Well, while the board looks the part of centerpiece on a coffee table, the noise during play can be a turnoff. The beep confirming the piece you want to move cannot be toggled off unfortunately. Moreover, every piece captured and every check produces a different "beep." You can also hear the mechanical arm as it moves underneath the board. As a result, my non-chess-playing wife has requested that I not play when she's around. The pieces themselves are a tad small and lighter weight than I prefer too. One thing I enjoy about the Marshall is the tactile feel and weight of the pieces as I move them. This is lost with SquareOff.

I reached out to the team directly to share my feedback. The result? They are designing and manufacturing a second-generation board that addresses these issues with the SquareOff Neo (depicted above!). I'm excited to support this project and have even helped fund their vision. But between the pandemic and political spats between India and China disrupting supply lines, the timeline for the new model has been pushed back eighteen months from its original target.

Given the delays, it might make more sense to just get a Fauci Ouchie and play at the Marshall against flesh and blood opponents.

—Michael Yatco, MCC Staff