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Chess Training Syllabus

A. Introduction to Chess
1. Why study chess
   * Benefits of chess
   * Chess in real life
2. The General Rules of Chess
   * Movement of pieces and pawns, capture, castling, “en passant”, promotion, etc.
   * Relative value of Pieces and Pawns
3. The Chess Board
   * Start of the game
   * Naming of Squares, Files, Ranks and Diagonals
4. Chess Notations
   * Algebraic
   * Forsyth Edwards Notation
5. Stages of the Game and Basic Concepts
   * Opening, middle game and endgame
6. Goal and Objectives in Chess
   * Checkmate, material advantage, positional advantage, advantageetc in space. etc.
7. The Elements of Chess
   * Space
   * Forces
   * Time

B. Pattern Recognition
1. Checkmate Pattern
   * Elementary checkmate
   * Common Checkmate Pattern
   * Special Checkmate Pattern
   o Legal’s mate, Smothered mate, Boden’s mate, Morphy’s mate, Pillsbury’s mate, Reti’s mate, Anastasia’s mate, Epaulette’s mate, etc.
2. Basic Tactics
   * Fork, pin, skewer, double attack, discovered attack, etc.
   * Vision drills on fork, pin and skewer
   * Exercises on basic tactics

C. Practices of good play in the Opening
1. Quick and rapid development of pieces
2. Fighting for Control of the Center
3. King’s safety
4. Efficient deployment of Pawns
5. Unnecessary delays should be avoided
6. Positioning of Pieces to good squares
7. Moving again a developed piece not advisable when there are still other undeveloped pieces
8. Early exposure of queen not advisable
9. Captures that aid opponent’s development not advisable

D. Basic strategy
1. Handling of Pawns, Pieces and King
2. Lead in development
3. Space advantage
4. Methods of controlling the Center
5. Centralization of pieces
6. Advantage in time and tempo
7. Occupation of good squares, files, ranks and diagonals
8. The Good and Bad bishop
9. The play of Bishop against Knight
10. The Opposite colored bishops
11. Outposts,support points and operational base
12. Occupation of seventh (or second rank) and back ranks
13. Exploitation of weakness
14. The Rule on Two Weaknesses

E. Basic endgame
1. Basic principles in Pawn endings
2. Zugswang and Stalemate
3. Theoretically drawn pawn endings
4. Introduction to the Concept of Key Squares, Opposition and Triangulation
5. Reti's Idea, Outflanking and shouldering maneuvers
6. Queen and pawn ending
7. Rook and pawn ending
8. Bishop and pawn ending
9. Knight and pawn ending
10. Bishop versus knight ending

F. The Middle Game Play
1. The Art of Exchange and Trading of Pieces
2. Calculating variations
3. Combinations and Tactical blows
4. Pawn majority and pawn minority attack
5. Positional sacrifice
6. Attack on the king
7. The Art of Defense
   * Special defensive means

G. Tactics, Intermediate level
1. Deflection, Decoy, Windmills, Elimination of defender, etc.
2. The classic bishop sacrifice
3. Exercises on Tactics, intermediate level

H. Chess Strategy, Intermediate Level
1. Elements of Positional play
   * Level of development
   * King's Safety
   * Activity of pieces
   * Coordination of pieces
   * Initiative
   * Material balance
   * Good squares, files, ranks and diagonals
   * Weak squares, files, ranks and diagonals
   * Special dynamic potentials
   * Pawn structure
   o Pawn chains
   o Pawn islands
   o Isolated pawns
   o Hanging pawns
   o Doubled pawns
   o Backward pawns
   o Mobile pawns
   o Passed pawns
   - Outside passed pawn
   - Connected passed pawns
   - Protected passed pawn
2. Assessing a Position
3. Dynamic and Static Advantage
4. Improving a position
5. Blackade, Barrier and Fortress
6. The Fianchettoed bishop
7. Strategic Planning

I. Endgame, Intermediate Level
1. Transitions to Endgame
2. Pawn endings
   * Distant opposition
   * Key and Critical squares
   * The Square of the Passed Pawn
   * The Floating Square
   * The Untouchable Pawn
   * The Correspondence of Squares
   * Mined squares
   * Pawn Races
3. Knight and pawn ending
   * Botvinnik's Formula
4. Breakthroughs
5. Pawn Trouses
6. Reserve Tempo
7. Rook and Pawn Ending
   * The Lucena and Philidor Positions
   * The Bridge, The Refuge, Cutting the king off, Shouldering, Outflanking The Umbrella, and other techniques
   * Tactics in rook and pawn endings
8. Tactics in endgame in general

J. Opening Studies, Intermediate level
1. Common pawn formation resulting from specific openings
2. Isolated pawn in the center
3. Studies on particular openings
   * The e4 system
   * The d4 system
   * Other systems

K. Practice Game
1. Game between trainer and student
2. Game between student and invited player

L. Tactics for Advanced Players
1. Developing Intiution
2. Exercises on advanced tactics

M. Advanced Endgame
1. Analysis of complex endings

N. Advanced studies of openings
1. Current trends in openings
2. Advances in particular openings

O. Chess Psychology
1. Practical advises in tournament competitions
2. Styles of world champions
3. Developing own's style of play

P. Review on some specific rules in chess
1. The rule on three repetitions of position
2. The fifty move rule
3. The rule on no sufficint mating material
4. The rule on recording of moves
5. The rule on illegal moves
6. The rule on offering a draw
7. The rule on less than 5-minutes remaining time in clock
8. The rule on less than 2-minutes remaining time in clock