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There are actually many “types”
of chess they can play, ranging from completely informal “skittles”
(just for fun) games to highly organized rated tournament play. Most of the
games played during your regular club meetings will probably be skittles
games between friends. However, you should occasionally invite other member
schools over just for skittles so that your players can enjoy some new
competition.
The level of club competition
can be stepped up a notch by adding a ladder competition element to
your club. Just as you might expect, a ladder competition allows the
stronger players to rise to the top and obtain some recognition, while
giving the developing players incentive to improve.
Blitz games (5 minutes
per side) are usually very popular with youngsters. Of course, a chess
clock is necessary to make sure such games are fair. Unfortunately, blitz
play sometimes allows players to develop bad habits, and shouldn’t be played
exclusively, especially if the players hope to play in tournaments with more
normal time controls. For something a bit different, you might want to have
an occasional “theme play” meeting. In this meeting, only allow players to
play without their Queens for example, or perhaps without their Rooks or
Queens. Another possibility is to have a problem-solving meeting, where
several checkmate problems are given and the players compete to see who can
solve the most problems in a given period of time. Mate-in-one or
mate-in-two problems can be found in many chess books.
Tournament play is more
formal. It requires organization and someone to direct the tournament
(pair, or match, the players in each round, resolve disputes fairly
according to the Rules of Chess). Generally, tournaments are either Swiss
System or round-robin. In Swiss System, the pairings are made according to
players’ strength and results during the tournament.
Swiss System tournaments
can be either individual play, where each player’s results affect only his
standing in the tournament, or team play, in which a team of (usually) four
players competes, and the team’s standing is based on the results of all its
members in their individual games. Refer to the U.S. Chess Federation’s
Official Rules of Chess for a more complete explanation of Swiss System
tournament play.
Round-Robin, all players
in a section play each other. A popular style of round-robin is the Quad,
which is a tournament consisting of sections having four players in each
section. The sections are decided based on the players’ strength, usually
indicated by a rating if the player has previously played in rated
tournaments. |
