An hour of real chess. Beginners included
Every Sunday at 1pm, twelve children at most sit down to play. One idea is taught at the start, then they play it out, with a coach moving between the boards. A child who has never set up a board is not the odd one out, because the hour is built for the room rather than the strongest player in it.
Secure checkout through Square. You choose the exact Sunday when you book, and your confirmation arrives by email.
Who it’s for
Children who have never played, and children who already beat everyone at home.
Chess is one of the few things where a beginner and a club player can sit at the same table and both have a good hour. That only works if somebody is watching the boards, which is the whole reason this class is capped at twelve. Over a term children practise how to:
- Set up, move and finish a game properly, including the rules people usually get wrong
- Look at a position and ask what the other person is threatening
- Think one move further ahead than feels comfortable
- Lose a game, work out why, and want the next one
- Sit with a hard problem for longer than a minute
How the hour runs
They are playing within ten minutes.
The shape is the same every week, so a child always knows what is coming, and a child joining for the first time is never behind.
The puzzle
Everyone starts on the same position on the demonstration board. Two minutes, no pressure, and every answer gets heard.
One idea
A single thing taught plainly: a way to open, a trap worth knowing, a pattern that wins an endgame.
Play it out
Games with that idea in hand, paired so the match is fair. The coach moves between the boards rather than talking from the front.
Look back
One position from the hour goes back up on the board and the group works out what happened. Nobody is named as the loser.
Clocks come out once a child is ready for them, not before. Rated tournaments are not what this class is for, though we are glad to point a child who wants one towards a local club.
Three levels, one room
Children are paired by where they actually are, which changes week to week. Nobody is put in a group and left there.
Never played
Starts with the board itself and how each piece moves, then plays a real game the same hour on a smaller board.
Plays at home
Knows the moves, loses to the same mistakes. This is where the weekly idea does the most work.
Plays properly
Gets harder puzzles, tougher pairings and the job of explaining a position to somebody else, which is how a player gets better.
What a term of Sundays adds up to
Ten or so ideas they own, rather than a hundred they were shown.
- A real opening they understand, rather than one memorised
- The endgames that decide most children’s games, practised until they are automatic
- The habit of asking what is my opponent trying to do before moving
- A notation sheet they can actually read, so a game can be looked at again
- Somewhere to play every week that is not a screen
The people in the room
A small group, and an adult who is watching the games.
Capped at twelve
Twelve at most, so every child gets time at a board with someone looking at their position, not just a room full of games running unwatched.
A coach, and one of ours
Led by our chess coach, with a La Vita Nova team member in the room throughout. Every adult working with the children holds a current Victorian Working with Children Check.
Allergies, medical needs and emergency contacts are collected before a first class, and children are released only to the people named on the enrolment form. Read our child safety commitment →
Book a Sunday
- When
- Every Sunday, 1:00pm to 2:00pm
- Ages
- 7 to 12, capped at twelve children
- Price
- $30 a class, or four classes for $100
- Where
- La Vita Nova, 51a Grosvenor Street, South Yarra
- Bring
- Nothing. Boards, pieces, clocks and puzzle sheets are here
- Before
- The art class, Masters in the Making, finishes at 12:30pm, then a supervised break
Four-class passes are valid for twelve months and the Sundays do not need to be consecutive. Passes already bought keep the price they were bought at.
See the whole Sunday →The other Sunday classes are sold separately: art is $45 and The Founder’s Studio is $55 for 90 minutes. No classes from 22 December to 15 January.
Good to know
My child has never played. Is this too advanced?
No. Every week starts from a position on the board that anyone can look at, and a first-timer plays a real game in their first hour. Children are paired by where they are, so a beginner is never sat opposite the strongest player in the room.
My child plays at a club already. Is this too easy?
The weekly idea is pitched at the middle of the room, but the puzzles, the pairings and the job of explaining a position are all scaled up for a stronger player. If your child is preparing for rated tournaments, a club is a better fit and we are happy to suggest one.
Can we book a single Sunday?
Yes. Each class is complete on its own and nothing assumes your child was there the week before. The four-class pass exists because it is cheaper, not because the weeks are a sequence.
Which Sunday does my booking cover?
The one you pick. On the booking page you choose the class and the Sunday, and that seat is yours.
Can they come straight from the art class?
Yes, and many do. Art finishes at 12:30pm and chess starts at 1pm, and the half hour in between is supervised, so a child doing both is looked after continuously and you drop off and collect once. Lunch is not provided, so pack a lunchbox.
Does my child need their own set?
No. Boards, pieces, clocks and puzzle sheets are all here. Children are welcome to bring a set they love, but nothing is needed.
What if we cannot make the Sunday we booked?
Tell us 24 hours or more before and we will move it to another Sunday or refund you. Inside 24 hours the booking is used, unless your child is unwell, in which case we move it at no charge. Email info@lavitanova.com.au as soon as you know.
The rest of the Sunday
Chess sits in the middle of three classes that run one after another, from 11am to 3:30pm. Each is booked separately.
Sundays at La Vita Nova
Art and Craft, Chess and The Founder’s Studio, one after another, each sold separately. From $45 a class.
See the timetable →Masters in the Making
The art class immediately before chess. A different great artist every Sunday, and a piece to carry home.
See the workshops →