Development Group (Ages 11-14)

In the Development group students turn from players who “know the pieces” into players who “make plans”. Each student builds a simple opening repertoire for White and Black, and the group studies how pawn structures (isolated pawns, passed pawns, pawn chains) shape middlegame plans.

How the sessions work

• Two 90-minute sessions a week, with no more than 10 students
• An opening repertoire file with each student’s own lines
• Endgames: the Lucena and Philidor positions in rook endings, opposition in pawn endings
• A goal of at least one rated tournament a month, with one-to-one analysis afterwards

Who is it for?

Students rated 1200-1400 UKD who want to play tournaments regularly. Students in the group can represent the club in the Kocaeli provincial championships and school sports chess competitions. Our coach plans each student’s tournament calendar together with the parents. Each month one student’s tournament game is chosen for group analysis and examined together on the projector.