Cosmos Chess Club

Chess Websites

• Chessbase.com

• Chess.com

• lichess

• The Chess Website

• Chessopolis

• Michigan Chess Association

• Michigan Chess Competitions List

• Michigan Chess Events

Openings

• Chess.com Openings

• Chess.com Openings Explorer

• lichess Openings Explorer

• A Beginners Guide to Chess Openings

• ChessOps Openings

• Chess Openings Wizard

• Chessopolis Openings Collection

Tactics and Puzzles

• Chess.com Lessons

• Chess.com Tactics

• Chess.com Videos

• Chess.com Drills

• lichess Study

• lichess Practice

• lichess Puzzles

• ChessProblems.com

• Chessopolis Tutorials

• Chessopolis Problems

How to Play Chess

• How to play Chess (explained by a Master)

Game Analysis

• Chess.com Analysis

• lichess Analysis

  • Video Tutorial

Recommended Books

• The Chess Player's Bible

• Fireside Chess Library Series

Problem Solving

In its most simplistic form, chess is quite similar to a large puzzle. In order to "solve" a chess game, you must use problem-solving skills to decide which pieces you should move to yield the best results on the board. As you advance and start playing timed games, chess teaches you how to solve problems on-the-fly.

Abstract Reasoning

The ability to engage in abstract reasoning is undoubtedly beneficial to any school-aged student, both in academia and beyond. Chess helps you improve your abstract reasoning skills by helping you learn to recognize patterns on the gameboard and develop strategies based on those patterns.

Chess invites you to practice abstract reasoning through "if, then..." scenarios. For example, "If I move my rook here, then I can take out his bishop." Abstract reasoning skills go hand-in-hand with problem solving, making these two of the most beneficial skills gained from learning the game of chess.

Calmness Under Pressure 

When you play games with timed moves, you must repeatedly consider your current position on the board and determine the best possible move before time runs out.

 Learning to stay calm while thinking through possible moves gives you the ability to make informed and thought out decisions while under pressure in real-life scenarios down the road.

Patience

Careful calculation teaches you the virtue of patience. Not only must you stay focused while waiting for an opponent to take his or her turn, but you must also exercise patience by not rushing the number of moves it takes to complete the game. 

The same simply cannot be said of sporting events where the game is over when time runs out and an aggressive defense can often force a turnover. A chess game can last 20 minutes or several hours.

Sportsmanship

You learn chess by discovering which moves work and which ones don’t in certain scenarios. In a chess game, there's almost always a winner and students will quickly find that they're going to lose matches from time to time.

Games and activities where there's a clear-cut winner encourage you to become more sportsmanlike, when you win and when they lose. When you learn early to be good sports, it’s easier to overcome loss or failure later on in life.

Creative Thinking

To defeat an opponent, a chess player must become a creative thinker. During each game, they need to imagine what will happen with each possible move on the board and then quickly come up with new strategies on the fly.

Learning how to use creative thinking skills in real-world scenarios helps you become a better problem solver in your everyday life.

Pattern Recognition

You will learn to recognize and respond to patterns as they gain skill at playing chess. 

This involves not only knowing the different move patterns each chess piece is capable of but recognizing the potential consequences of each available move and making the right decision based on how each piece is placed on the chessboard.

Strategic Thinking

You will combine all the skills above as you learn to play chess, You will develop your strategic thinking skills. You learn to combine problem solving, pattern recognition and creative thinking to make your moves. 

You will discover how to be patient until just the right moment for a big move and learn that each loss is just an opportunity to perform better the next time. Most importantly, you will learn how to develop and execute a strategy.