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JADE KNIGHT
A Jade Knight plays carefully to avoid mistakes, is alert for back-rank mates and other traps, but will still tend to make at least one blunder each game. A Jade Knight will bravely face complications at the board, has improved positional play and planning, and is beginning to understand his/her own strengths and weaknesses.
Requirements / Coaching Guide
- Q vs K+P
- show drawn cases with pawn at bishop or rook seventh.
- Zwischenzug
- demonstrate zwischenzug "in between" moves.
- Traps
- survey common traps in middle games and show how to avoid them.
- Outposts
- describe outposts.
- Smothered Mate
- teach smothered mate.
- Evaluation
- teach the assessment of strengths and weaknesses in a position to reach an evaluation. Cover evaluation marks =, +=, =+, +-, -+, and ∞.
- Planning
- present positions for assessment, then have player verbalize a strategic plan for proceeding based on that assessment; what specific moves would set the plan in motion?
- Blunders
- discuss techniques for avoiding blunders.
- Mate in Three
- mate in three quizzes (at least 20) from Polgar's big CHESS book.
- Tournaments
- teach tournament conditions: clock, notation, touch move, sportsmanship, resolving issues.
- Spanish Game
- describe basic themes and main lines of the Spanish Game (Ruy Lopez); player tries some practice games in the opening.
- Morphy
- go over ten Morphy games
- Promotion Game
- Win a game from a higher-rated player getting Jade Knight odds.
Requirements continue to evolve and may therefore change at any time. Substitutions may be granted in some cases to award particularly strong play.
