You do not need to be a great chess player to teach chess. You just need to be a great teacher.

Some of our best chess teachers did not know even the rules of the game when they began teaching chess. They had open minds and the desire to learn along with their students.

They followed our lesson plan; now they have great classes with happier, more productive students.

Chess teaches kids to follow rules. It teaches them that there are consequences for their actions and from that it reinforces lessons of responsibility. It helps lengthens their attention spans and forces them to concentrate. Chess improves critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Chess is not an academic subject, yet chess players become better students. Chess is an amazing tool in the hands of educators as it produces students more ready to learn. Discipline problems are reduced so teachers may spend a larger portion of the day on their subjects and less time lecturing students on behavioral issues. Elementary school teachers who introduce chess to their class report needing to repeat lessons fewer times because their students are paying better attention.

How can you, as a teacher, introduce chess when you are not sure of the rules? It's not hard. You use our lesson plan.

The U.S. Chess Center uses Grandmaster Lev Alburt's Comprehensive Chess Course as its basic text. We then provide the step-by-step lessons you can use to teach. Everything you need to know is in the text or the lesson plan. If questions arise the first year that are not immediately answered in our materials, e-mail us, and you will have a response the same day.

The Center can provide its complete teaching package to interested individuals and institutions for $100 plus $6.50 shipping, including the textbook. In addition, the Center can provide high quality chess sets, boards and demonstration boards at very reasonable prices.

Look through the Gift Shop for additional information.

The U.S. Chess Center's basic philosophy includes teaching students the rules of etiquette, and then breaking down the game into pieces small enough that any person can learn them all. We spend very little time lecturing children, and all the instruction is done through having the students answer leading questions.

At least two-thirds of the total class time is spent actually using the pieces, playing games.

We have taught more than 10,000 children to play chess using these methods. It has worked for us, it can work for you.

Contact U.S. Chess Center Executive Director David Mehler for more information.