Puddletown Blog – Page 5 – Puddletown Chess

The Science of Winning Chess: Exclusive Insights from Our Training Program

Introduction At Puddletown Chess, we’ve developed a unique and hands-on training program designed to help students grow their chess skills in a structured and engaging way. Unlike many traditional programs, we emphasize consistent coaching, interactive learning, and reinforcement strategies to ensure students not only learn chess but master it over time.…

Comments Off

03/31/2025

Three stories that embody the spirit of Puddletown Chess

During our most recent tournament, on March 15th, I shared three heartwarming stories that embody the spirit of humility and gratitude within our Puddletown Chess community. Story#1: A Young Player's Generosity On his birthday last May, one of our remarkable young chess enthusiasts chose to donate $100 of his own hard-earned…

Comments Off

03/24/2025

Our donations

Puddletown’s proud donation to OSCF Co-Ed Tournament

Yesterday, we had the incredible opportunity to be part of the OSCF Co-Ed State Team Championship in Portland, Oregon! This unique annual event, organized by the Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation (OSCF), brought together teams from across the state to compete in a one-of-a-kind format—each team could have a maximum of three…

Comments Off

03/17/2025

Tournament Report

Spring Symphony II 2025 March Puddletown Chess Tournament Report

Spring Symphony II 2025 (March) Puddletown Chess Tournament was a tremendous success! Notably, 11 players participated in their first-ever USCF-rated tournament! This was one of the top 10 largest events we've hosted in Puddletown so far. We look forward to continuing to serve the community with top-quality chess tournaments and training!…

Comments Off

03/16/2025

Tournament Report

Winter Wonderland II 2025 February Puddletown Chess Tournament Report

The Winter Wonderland II 2025 (February) Puddletown Chess Tournament was a resounding success! Among them, 8 players were attending their first USCF-rated tournament, and 31 were girls. This was one of our biggest event at Puddletown so far. We hope to keep serving the community with high quality chess tournaments and…

Comments Off

02/09/2025

Tournament Report / Tournaments

Hello 2025 Puddletown Chess Tournament Report

The Hello 2025 Tournament was a great success! We were proud to offer free entries to ALL 154 players! Among them, 10 players were attending their first USCF-rated tournament, and 32 were girls. This was our biggest event at Puddletown so far. Looks like everybody's new year's resolution was to become better…

Comments Off

01/12/2025

Tournament Report / Tournaments

Turkey Tactics Tournament Report

Nearly 140 players joined us for our November Turkey Tactics tournament (try saying that ten times fast!). The turnout was almost as large as our anniversary tournament. More than a third of the entries were provided for free: 34 for female players and 24 for low-income/rural players. Thirty players participated in…

Comments Off

11/10/2024

Tournament Report

National Chess Day – Golden Autumn Chess Tournament Report

Our Golden Autumn Chess Tournament was another successful, very satisfying experience for players, volunteers and founders. After the very large (150+ players) anniversary tournament last month, it felt like a cakewalk to host "only" 97 players this time. Our 20+ volunteer team tirelessly and seamlessly took care of all the logistics…

Comments Off

10/06/2024

Tournaments / Training / Volunteers

Puddletown Chess 2nd Anniversary Awards

This past weekend, Puddletown Chess celebrated our 2nd anniversary with our players, parents, coaches, and volunteers. Since our founding, we have remained committed to promoting accessibility in chess, ensuring that all players—regardless of background—have access to this incredible game. So far this year, we have donated $16,000 to directly support young…

Comments Off

09/15/2024

Tournament Report / Tournaments

Second Anniversary Tournament Report

September: a month of changing seasons, a new school year, Labor Day... but most importantly, of course, Puddletown's birth month! It's amazing to see how much we've grown in just one year. So far this year, we've donated over $16,000 to our community, including (but not limited to) cash donations to…

Comments Off

09/15/2024

Community / News & Progress

Our first-ever summer training party

We recently finished another successful training term at Puddletown (8 AMAZING terms in 2 years so far!). So we decided to throw our first-ever summer training party, to celebrate with our students. But it was also about the coaches bonding with their students in-person. You see - our training program is…

Comments Off

08/26/2024

Uncategorized

Training Program Party at Godfather’s Pizza!

This past Saturday, our training program students and coaches gathered at Godfather's Pizza for a day filled with laughter, friendly competition, and, of course, delicious pizza. This end-of-summer party was a special opportunity for coaches and students to spend time together outside the traditional "classroom" setting. As soon as the pizzas…

Comments Off

08/25/2024

News & Progress / Tournament Report / Tournaments

End of Summer II Tournament Report

This is Puddletown's second End of Summer tournament. Compared to last year, we have much more players, especially in the upper sections. A lot of the players in the upper sections are from the beginner's section last year. Some even won prizes in the top sections! It's really amazing to see…

Comments Off

08/04/2024

Community / Training / Youth

Level Up Your Game: My playbook and advice on how to master chess

In the last 18 months, we observed over 700 Puddletown training students and players very closely and created this playbook for how to improve your chess game and rating consistently. Like everything else in life, you have to work hard. But that doesn't mean you have to be miserable doing it.…

Comments Off

05/05/2024

Tournament Report

2024 May Flowers Tournament Report

It was another amazing turnout for the Puddletown May tournament! Of the 86 players, 4 were adults, 23 were girls, and 2 were rural players. As you know Puddletown proudly offers FREE tournament entries for the following categories of players: Girl players Non-binary players Rural area players Low-income family players Section…

Comments Off

05/04/2024