Puddletown Blog – Page 5 – Puddletown Chess

The Spontaneous Leader: Why You Should Embrace Chaos

At Puddletown, we’ve learned something important: leadership doesn’t grow out of perfect plans. It grows out of chaos. When you’re working with kids, chess boards, clocks, pizza boxes, and a tournament hall full of buzzing energy, things will go sideways. And that’s exactly where spontaneous leadership shows up. The Tournament Tiebreaker…

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11/18/2025

Learnings

The (Secretly) Most Important Question in Chess: How do I play against Higher-Rated People?

All of us chess players have faced a problem at some point: Do I go for a draw (or accept a draw offer) against a higher-rated person if I know my position is better, and potentially even winning? This question is silently in everyone’s head, no matter how much you want…

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11/11/2025

Community / Tournaments / Training / Youth

Our BHAG: Help 1000 Students Reach 1000 USCF Rating

Every great movement has a bold goal. At Puddletown, ours is this: help 1,000 students reach a USCF rating of 1,000. We call it our BHAG, our “Big Hairy Audacious Goal.” And while the phrase may sound funny, the mission is anything but. Why 1,000 Rating? A USCF rating of 1,000…

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11/10/2025