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Date Last Modified: 6/15/00
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Equipment
We ONLY use USCF (United States Chess Federation) Tournament Standard sets at the club. They are "Staunton" style with a vinyl board with white and green 2 1/4" squares. Don't buy those cheap sets with the red and black squares over at Bi-Mart. A Star Trek set or Simpsons set may look cool, but you can't use it at tournaments. A decent tournament set and board that is durable and will last a lifetime is available for around $15 dollars from many on-line vendors.
Owning a clock is optional for elementary school students. They are easily the most expensive item of the standard tournament equipment ensemble. They go from about $40 dollars for your basic analog clock to $115 for the top of the line digital. They aren't toys. I prefer digital clocks (especially the Chronos) because of certain rules in tournaments relating to "sudden death" time controls. They are almost mandatory for bughouse. They can be more difficult to set compared to analog clocks, but there is a website devoted to explaining how to set almost every popular model digital chess clock. Here it is:
The best books for elementary students are "workbooks", IMHO. John Bain's Workbook for Students and Chess Rules for Students are very good. Al Woolum's Chess Tactics Workbook is also very good. Al also sells "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" which is also good. You can sometimes find it used down at Powell's. Don't forget the Newberg Public Library! They have some chess books, too.
The club owns a set of video's from USCF that teach chess from the ground up. Contact the Webmaster to borrow them. The Newberg Public Library also has some chess video's in their video collection. I highly recommend "The Mightly Pawns" which is based on a true story of an inner city high school that went from beginners to US Scholastic Champions. Many people enjoyed the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer", available at all local video stores.
In 1999 we decided to standardize on the software ChessMates from Interplay. It is a good instructional package that runs on Windows or Macintosh. We made a group purchase and got it for $7 a copy (it retails for $15). It is installed in many classrooms in the school. As students complete the lessons or conquer a playing level, they can print a certificate with their name on it. We post the certificates in the Annex.
Of course, there is a ton of software available for PC's and Mac's that goes way beyond ChessMates. There is also a lot of FREE playing software you can download from the Internet for whatever computer/operating system you have.
Here are some on-line vendors that I recommend. I've purchased from each of these and been very satisfied.
http://www.chessforstudents.com/
John Bain in Philomath Oregon sells equipment, books, and sets. His books are designed specifically for students. The sets meet tournament standards.
http://www.shopuschess.org/scstore/
This is the United States Chess Federation's on-line store. USCF may be the largest retail chess store in the world. Equipment, books, video's, everything (except they don't carry the Chronos digital clock - don't know why - they have other digital clocks.)
http://www.chessineducation.com/
Al Woolum in Texas has all the basic stuff AND has the some of the best quantity discounts for schools and clubs. He also carries the Chronos digital clock, which is my favorite digital clock. He also has a book on tactics for students that is excellent.
