My name is Sam Adler. I have been an elementary chess teacher for the past 10 years. I have taught all across NYC and across all grade levels from K-12 from beginners to tournament winners. I am known for making chess fun and accessible while teaching how to use chess skills in real life settings. I believe chess is one of the best games to teach students patience, respect, and critical thought. I work to make student centered curriculum and love to incorporate cartoons and/or whatever the students are interested in at the moment. Chess helped me as a child learn how to focus, take my time, analyze, and then make a decision. I was a hyperactive child and by learning and playing chess it helped me be able to sit and focus on a lesson for longer than I had been able to previously.

I teach the game piece by piece, in mini game format, which teaches the strategy of the whole game in bite sized pieces. Once the students learn all the pieces we learn about what makes chess different from other games- Checkmate. Checkmate is different from most other ending parts of games for the fact you don’t capture your opponent you out think them. There aren’t many other games that have been around for over 1,500 years.

The goal of any of my programs is to make a safe space for students to learn and grow in. At minimum the students learn the game, some strategy, and some history. At best the students learn new ways to learn through playing this game and are able to go to tournaments and win medals and trophies. I am not the usual overly competitive chess teacher, my goal is to meet the students where they are at. My program is flexible and is shaped by the students/school/parents who are involved.