Chesscademy, a free chess learning site • Hacker News Board

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#51

Post by thejteam » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 2:30 PM UTC

donniezazen wrote: post #36

What's everybody's favorite chess site here on HN?

I use gameknot.com. Good for correspondence style chess games. Lots of people too.

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#52

Post by magmadiver » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 3:06 PM UTC

jfarmer wrote: post #24

Matetricks wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was some awesome feedback! I spent some time trying to approach the exercises from the perspective of a complete beginner, and I tried to design them accordingly. This is invaluable information that will help me design future lessons. Thank you for your detailed and rigorous analysis.

Thanks! Keep in mind I'm really, really, really far from a "complete beginner" in many ways. I already understand the rules of chess. I've played maybe 50 games of chess in my life, although I've lost nearly every one. I'm a teacher by profession and spend almost all my waking hours thinking about how people learn and implementing that in curriculum. I have a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Chicago, which…

Playing 50 games of chess is still in the "complete beginner" phase.

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#53

Post by nicholassmith » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 3:24 PM UTC

jfarmer wrote: post #11

So, I know the basic rules of chess, but I'm terrible at the game because I've never practiced. This site looks neat! I also spent the last two years designing curriculum to teach folks how to program. I have some issues as a student. I'm currently on the "Sharp Pin" exercise: http://chesscademy.com/exercises/the-sharp-pin-that-piece-is... I get the basic idea. You have a piece which can't move without exposing a mor…

If everyone gave feedback as detailed and intelligently as this the world would be a better place.

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#54

Post by nicholassmith » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 3:25 PM UTC

This is great, I was playing some chess (vs computer) recently and whilst I can occasionally snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat I've never been a particularly good player, so I was planning on hitting the books at some stage. This looks by far more suited to my learning style, so I'm looking forward to building some new skills.

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#55

Post by akbarnama » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 3:36 PM UTC

donniezazen wrote: post #36

What's everybody's favorite chess site here on HN?

redhotpawn.com - good for correspondence chess and an active chess forum.

chesscafe.com - a great collection of articles (including instruction) on chess

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#56

Post by nickpettit » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 4:19 PM UTC

benwoodward wrote: post #38

level09 wrote: post #31

Are the guys of Team Treehouse behind this ? their website/concept are very similar ..

Can't remember the other, but this is the second website I've seen that seems to have lifted the Treehouse look.

If you do remember the first one, please let us know.

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#57

Post by webwanderings » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 4:29 PM UTC

This is amazing. Very much needed.

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#58

Post by pclark » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 5:15 PM UTC

vkolencik wrote: post #40

One concept I really like for teaching Go (and I think it would be a great addition to this site) is the "Go teaching ladder": http://gtl.xmp.net/ It lets you submit a record of your game and people who are just a bit better players than you are review it and point out obvious (from their point of view) mistakes. Everyone's games are reviewed by someone above them in the ladder, therefore most people are both student…

searched this page looking for a "Chessacademy for Go"

thanks.

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#59

Post by jfarmer » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 6:02 PM UTC

magmadiver wrote: post #52

jfarmer wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Keep in mind I'm really, really, really far from a "complete beginner" in many ways. I already understand the rules of chess. I've played maybe 50 games of chess in my life, although I've lost nearly every one. I'm a teacher by profession and spend almost all my waking hours thinking about how people learn and implementing that in curriculum. I have a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Chicago, which…

Playing 50 games of chess is still in the "complete beginner" phase.

Thanks! That's an invaluable addition to the conversation.

For my purposes and for the purposes of the people building this site, I was taking "complete beginner" to mean "never played chess, ever." If you think about it there are many things I know that such a person doesn't, e.g., what it's like to make an ill-considered move.

I knew what pinning and skewering were, for example, although I didn't have a name for them. Learning about pinning for me is putting a name to something I've experienced. A "complete beginner" doesn't have access to that and will be incrementally harder to teach.

That's what I meant, not that 50 games is substantial experience or that I am not a beginner.

Re: Chesscademy, a free chess learning site

#60

Post by Domenic_S » Mon, Aug 19, 2013, 6:35 PM UTC

taejo wrote: post #29

Matetricks wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was some awesome feedback! I spent some time trying to approach the exercises from the perspective of a complete beginner, and I tried to design them accordingly. This is invaluable information that will help me design future lessons. Thank you for your detailed and rigorous analysis.

In http://chesscademy.com/exercises/the-sharp-pin-that-piece-is... it seems that Bg5 is a pin too, but only Bb5 is accepted

Meh: 1. Bg5 f6

Would be nice I guess to show why b5 is a bad pin