News 1

My staff and I are currently teaching chess to 275+ kids each week through 14 school programs and 3 online group lessons.

I’m working (and looking to work) with several new schools and coaches as we expand across the Greater Denver Area and into Colorado Springs!

We just ran our first tournament of the season at Jefferson County Fairgrounds on Sept 17th, 2022. We had 70 participants with some coming as far as Wyoming or Colorado Springs! There were 3 masters and $576 in prize money for the OPEN section (for both adults and kids). We had the most AMAZING lunch from my new inlaws. She’s one of the most amazing cooks I’ve ever encountered and I’m so thankful our community gets to enjoy her skills.

If you’re interested to have a chess program at your child’s school – please hit me up OR if you’re an enthusiastic chess player wanting to bring the next generation of kids into chess – hit me up also!

Introduction

Most people think of chess as a game for nerds. And while it’s true that chess can be very complex, it also has a lot of benefits for students. Chess teaches kids how to think critically and strategically while they play. It’s also been shown to improve their mental health and academic performance, not to mention social skills as well! Rather than banning the game from your child’s school curriculum, encourage them to play.

Improved Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is a skill that many employers are looking for in prospective employees. It’s also an important life skill, as you will have to make decisions based on your own critical thinking abilities.

Chess can help students develop this skill by developing their ability to plan ahead and predict the consequences of their actions. These skills can help students be more successful in school, at work and even in their personal lives

Mental Health Benefits

The game is also a great way to improve mental health. In fact, it can help children develop skills that are crucial in ensuring they lead healthy and successful lives as adults. By playing chess, children build their focus and decision-making capabilities, learn how to solve problems more efficiently, and increase their memory capacity. The game also helps them develop critical thinking skills, creativity and self confidence—all of which are essential for a child’s development into an adult who is able to function well in society.

Higher Test Scores

Chess develops skills that are essential for academic success. Studies have shown that kids who play chess do better on standardized tests than their peers who don’t play chess, and it’s not just a matter of IQ. Chess teaches kids how to study, learn, memorize information and think critically. It also helps kids develop their math skills by teaching them about patterns, shapes and numbers.

In short: if your kid is struggling in school because they’re not good at tests or remembering things from class—get them playing chess!

Increased Academic Performance

Studies have shown that students who play chess see an increase in their academic performance. Students who play chess are able to learn faster, and retain more information than those who do not. Chess also teaches students how to problem solve, and develop critical thinking skills. Additionally, playing chess improves a student’s creativity and concentration by making them think outside the box.

Improved Social Skills

As a classroom teacher, you know that teamwork is important. Chess can help children develop these skills by giving them the opportunity to communicate with their peers in a fun environment. As they play the game together, they’ll learn how to manage frustration and work well under pressure.

The chess board is a blank slate where any number of scenarios can be played out in real life: two armies face off on opposite sides of the board; two friends argue over who gets paid first when working at a lemonade stand; an army captain asks for volunteers from his troops as he leads them into battle against another army…. These are just some examples of how chess can be used as an opportunity for cooperative learning among students.

chess is the perfect compliment to school curriculum and the benefits are extensive

Chess is absolutely the perfect complement to school curriculum.

Chess teaches critical thinking skills, which are essential for success in life. Chess helps children develop their minds, allowing them to think ahead, plan ahead and visualize future events. This promotes creativity and imagination as well as providing important cognitive benefits such as self-confidence, focus and concentration on tasks at hand (known as selective attention).

Conclusion

Chess is a great way to improve critical thinking skills, but it also has many other benefits. It can be used in the classroom to improve academic performance and test scores, enhance social skills, and increase mental health. As educators continue to search for ways to help students succeed in today’s world, chess should be considered as an important tool that offers both mental health benefits and academic achievement.

I thought it would be fun for an amateur (non-master) chess player to analyze my games and give me feedback. Dr. Patzer (AKA Dr. Langstram) is a #ChessPunks founding member. Team leader of the Chesspunks team: http://lichess.org/team/chesspunks

Go follow Dr. Patzer on Twitter – https://twitter.com/DrLangstrand

In this episode please listen closely to the thoughts of the amateur compared to the master and then compare them with your own ideas. This is how we spot weaknesses/gaps in our own thinking patterns and then improve.

I swear I’m working on the audio issues. My apologies for how loud the piece movements are. The editing to go back and soften the volume on each click was outside my motivation range.

Love you guys.

Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE this video with your friends. This is what motivates Jesse to keep on creating content!

Check out the most amazing tournament series Colorado has to offer ► https://summitschoolofchess.com/tournaments/

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Today I had the immense privilege to interview GM Aletik Grigoryan, 2010 Armenian Champion, and CEO of Chess Mood. GM Grigoryan is an amazing person, full of insight and ready to answer some deeply personal questions about his life, growth, and wisdom.

GM Grigoryan’s Wikipedia page! – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avetik_Grigoryan

In this interview Aletik talks about: 1) How his childhood shaped him and his attitude to one of success and happiness 2) The three key ingredients for success (The 3rd reason will shock you!) 3) What separates Chess Mood from the abundance of chess information out there? Please check out his website – https://chessmood.com/

Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE this video with your friends. This is what motivates Jesse to keep on creating content!

Check out the most amazing tournament series Colorado has to offer ► https://summitschoolofchess.com/tournaments/

Register for online classes and private lessons ► https://summitschoolofchess.com/schoolprograms/online-chess-coaching-group-lessons/

Follow us on Twitch ► https://www.twitch.tv/nmjessecohen​​​​ Follow us on

Twitter ► https://twitter.com/Summit_Chess​​​​ Join Summit School of Chess

Discord ► https://discord.gg/RZETsCQJ​​​​

The 7 major imbalances can be found at the following link https://www.thespruce.com/silmans-seven-imbalances-611469

They are: 1) Material 2) Bishops v. Knights 3) Space + Center Control 4) Development + Piece Activity + King Safety 5) Pawn Structure 6) Initiative 7) Control of key files and weak squares

5 steps to planning:

1. List all imbalances for both sides that exist or can be created. (An imbalance is any major/notable difference between White and Black positions.
2. What side of the board should I be playing on? Unless the center is closed it should always somewhat involve the center however we should only look to play in the area of the chessboard where we either possess a favorable imbalance (advantage) or can create one. It is a common mistake even at the master level to play in the wrong area of the board.
3. Create a dream position. A dream position is exactly what it sounds like. It can either be all-inclusive or it can be something simple like making a dream position for your Knight and making a plan to get it there. You will first imagine your perfect setup and then you will tweak it based on what is possible based on the nuances of the position. Once you have a good dream position you believe is achievable… A good dream position should include a threat once achieved that cannot be defended against well or at all.
4. Can my opponent defend, prevent, or counterattack stronger than my plan/dream position? A good plan should not be preventable unless it causes weakness or serious repercussions to the opponent. If our dream position can’t be stopped and the opponent doesn’t have a better counterattack…
5. We list all moves in our head that lead to our dream position (candidate moves) and we begin to calculate them in order of which one currently looks best. Based on the calculation, evaluation, and proper time management we make move-in a well-time-controlled fashion.

Remember to state ideas or moves that could be made to use current advantages or fix current problems (e.g. if you say that Black has a troubled Rook on a8 you should present a possible solution to that problem if one exists and if it doesn’t you should also state that) Remember also to look for ways to create and trade current imbalances for new ones or better ones.

International Chess Master Jeremy Silman created his 5 step method of planning outlined in his best-selling book How to Reassess your Chess 4th Edition. In this episode, National Master and head coach of Summit School of Chess, Jesse Cohen will take you through the most comprehensive example of how to use and apply this technique.

Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE this video with your friends. This is what motivates Jesse to keep on creating content!

The 5 Steps of Planning: 1) List the Imbalances 2) Determine What Side to Play On. 3) Make a DREAM Position. 4) Consider the opponent’s counterplay. 5) Calculate and Evaluate. Notice how the final step is to calculate. This is very often most people’s FIRST step. It’s our job as future master planners to constantly break down the position into its essential elements and let the chess board tell us what to do instead of the other way around. Take great notes on this. You won’t find this level of instruction for FREE anywhere else online.

Most coaches give you tidbits of information to whet your appetite. Jesse delivers the highest quality lessons.

Check out the most amazing tournament series Colorado has to offer ► https://summitschoolofchess.com/tournaments/

Register for online classes and private lessons ► https://summitschoolofchess.com/schoolprograms/online-chess-coaching-group-lessons/

Follow us on Twitch ► https://www.twitch.tv/nmjessecohen​​​​

Follow us on Twitter ► https://twitter.com/Summit_Chess​​​​ Join Summit School of Chess

Discord ► https://discord.gg/RZETsCQJ​​​​

National Master Jesse Cohen is BACK bringing us more grandmaster secrets to training and improving your chess skills. In this video, Jesse covers the importance of reviewing (annotating) your own chess games. Only in this way can we practice the critical art of plugging the holes in our own game. The key takeaway from this video is: 1) review your own games 2) hire a chess coach to review them a second time 3) compare your notes to that of your coach 4) this will reveal your own weaknesses and give you deep insight into how you should be training to breakthrough plateaued rating everyone eventually suffers from. Enjoy! Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE & RING THE BELL so I’m motivated to make more content. Thanks! Check out the most amazing tournament series Colorado has to offer ► https://summitschoolofchess.com/tournaments/ Register for online classes and private lessons ► https://summitschoolofchess.com/schoolprograms/online-chess-coaching-group-lessons/ Follow us on Twitch ► https://www.twitch.tv/nmjessecohen​​​​ Follow us on Twitter ► https://twitter.com/Summit_Chess​​​​ Join Summit School of Chess Discord ► https://discord.gg/RZETsCQJ​​​​

I tell my students regularly, “If you want to be good at something, do it every day!”

This goes for you too. What are you still reading this for? Get to work! 😎😎

Introduction

To become a chess master, you need to know three things: how to play chess, when to play it and why.

Do you have a chess book collection?

Do you have a chess book collection? If not, it’s time to start one. A good library of chess books will help you improve your understanding of chess and learn new openings, tactics and endgames.

Chess is full of great books on every aspect of the game that can help both beginners and seasoned players alike. With these tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way to building up a strong library full of useful information!

Chess is all about preparation.

In this section, we’ll discuss the first few steps that you should take to prepare for your upcoming game.

• Prepare for your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. This is the most obvious one, but it’s also one of the most important things to keep in mind when preparing for a match or tournament. Your goal is to figure out what strategies work best against your opponent’s style, which means analyzing their prior games and learning about their preferred openings, strategies, etc.. This will help you put together an effective plan when deciding how to respond if/when they make a certain move or play a particular opening sequence!
• Prepare yourself with an appropriate opening strategy that takes advantage of both your strengths and weaknesses as well as those of your opponents’ style/preferred openings (see above). The goal here is not necessarily winning with white pieces every single time; instead it’s making sure that whatever color piece plays first gives its owner enough opportunities for success while limiting those same opportunities for failure–or at least providing enough compensation if such failures do occur!

You need to understand WHY a move is played.

The first thing you need to do is understand WHY a move is played. You have to get into the mind of your opponent and understand the consequences of a move, what benefits it brings and what drawbacks there might be from playing that particular move.

The second thing you need to understand is: What are the alternatives? If you don’t know what other moves there are or if you don’t know why they wouldn’t work, then how can you really know that this one does? If your opponent’s last move was bad then it doesn’t matter how good your next one may look because in all likelihood it won’t win either! However if he has just played something great but didn’t continue with any pressure on my King then perhaps his other pieces aren’t doing anything useful at all!

Understand why every single piece on the board is there so that when it comes off its square (or gets taken) by an opposing pawn or piece later down the line, then so long as I’ve done my homework properly beforehand then we can assess whether this was necessary in order for them to achieve their goals during those opening stages.”

There are some common endgames that are likely to come up in your games.

There are some common endgames that are likely to come up in your games. These basic endings include:

• King and pawn versus king (also known as “king and pawns”)
• Two minor pieces against a rook (also known as “rook ending”)
• Three minor pieces against a rook (also known as “bishop ending with opposite colors”)

The Middlegame is where things get interesting…

The middlegame is where things get interesting. You need to have a good opening in order to attack or defend against your opponent’s position, but you also need to be able to use tactics and strategy in order to win the game. The best players are able to develop their openings, endgames and theory into more concrete weapons that can be used during the middlegame. In order for this development process to occur with ease, it is necessary for players at all levels of skill level (beginners included) to read board positions as accurately as possible before making any moves.

Planning means something different at every stage of the game.

Planning is about thinking ahead. When you are playing chess, you will find yourself in different positions at different times during the game. And each position requires its own kind of planning.

So what do I mean by this? Well, let’s start with a simple example: if your opponent has just moved their bishop to E4 and you are about to move your queen from D2 to D1 (see image below), then your first thought might be: “I have no way of stopping my opponent from taking my pawn on e6!”

In this case, it would be very helpful for you if you could plan out exactly what happens next—if they capture your pawn or not—and whether there’s anything else they can do along the way. When we think about it like this, we see that there are two questions that need answering: 1) “What would happen if they capture my pawn?” 2) “How can I stop them?”

Learn from past Masters!

If you’re serious about chess, it’s important to study the games of past masters. Studying these games can help give you insight into their thinking and how they play.

It even helps to study the games of grandmasters, international masters, and national masters for that matter!

This will help give you a broader perspective on how to play chess better than just studying master level players alone (even if there are many great players out there).

Persistence in chess training will help you improve.

The core lesson in chess training is persistence.

If you are committed to improving at chess, you must learn not to be discouraged by a loss or frustrated by a mistake. This takes time and practice, but it is essential if you want to grow as a player. When we lose, we must accept that failure is part of the process and move on quickly with no hard feelings towards our opponent or ourselves. And when we make mistakes during our games, we shouldn’t dwell on those errors for too long—they’re just part of learning how the game works!

Conclusion

In chess, as in life, there is always something new to learn. If you want to become a master of the game and

I was recently interviewed on the podcast ‘The Brand Called You’

Business genius and mass influencer, Ashutosh Garg, covered some of the following questions I hope you will find useful:

1) How do you prepare yourself before a big match both physically and mentally?

2) What goes into making a champion, and what goes into training a champion?

3) What are my three biggest success secrets, both on and off the board?

Here is the description of the video. The link to the video is found at the bottom of the post.

S3 E532 Jesse Cohen, National Master Chess Champion, USA 00:00– Introduction 00:34– About Jesse Cohen 00:44– What made you select chess as a sport? 01:49– How did you start playing chess? 02:27– Journey to become the National Master Chess Champion 04:13– How does this classification work? 05:37– How do you prepare yourself before a big match both physically and mentally? 07:18– What have you done that is right to have kept you at the top for such a long period? 09:13– What goes into making a champion, and what goes into training a champion? 15:03– What will it take to expand the love of chess n a much larger portion of the world? 18:26– What do movies like Queen’s Gambit do for the game of chess? 20:45– Three lessons Anyone who has played a chess game has felt the drive to win. The experience of sitting across the board from a fierce opponent as your clock ticks down and the game becomes more complex is as tense an experience as there is. Here is an episode with National Master Chess Champion, Jesse Cohen who talks all about chess. About Jesse Cohen – Jesse is a National Master Chess Champion in the USA. – He has won several top awards around the world. – He formed Summit School of Chess in 2012. – He teaches over 100 students weekly throughout the Greater Denver and the Front Range areas.