Frequently asked questions

Chessity's learning path Pawn-King, with accompanying exams, forms a complete education for school players. From the absolute beginning to the level where they can also play a nice game at a chess club.

Each level is a compact lesson series, with a clear learning goal. The final exams at the end of each level test whether the student masters and can apply the material at this level.

	“I know enough to sit behind the chessboard. I know what all the chess pieces can do and I know enough rules to enjoy playing with the pieces. Who knows, I might even win!”
	“I can participate in a school chess tournament and will certainly win a game!”
	“I capture pieces and I really learn to win because I am very good at playing for mate. This makes me a strong team player in the school chess tournament.”
	“I master some attack and defense tactics that make me particularly strong for a school player. Some club players even have to watch out.”
	“I have greatly expanded my attack arsenal. Double attack, discovered attack, pins, or trapping a piece. You see me do it all.”
	“I have developed a search strategy that allows me to apply attack techniques, even if I don't know which theme to look for. At a chess club, they will welcome me with open arms. They will surely wonder where I come from :) "

Individual users can take exams, but for the time being it is not yet possible to receive a diploma. Generating downloadable and printable diplomas is a premium coach functions.

Users with an individual account will receive an upgrade of their profile image once they have passed an exam:

Your avatar will show you your highest level achieved. If you have passed the Pawn Exam, a pawn will appear next to your profile plate. Passed the Bishop Exam? Then there is a bishop next to the picture.

Yes, you can. If you practise in the simplified mode, a number of grey stickers (badges) are displayed on your homepage. These stickers correspond to the learning objectives of your level.

As soon as you have mastered a learning objective, the sticker is shown in colour. Once you have earned all the stickers, you will automatically be given access to the level exam.

The Exammanager can be found under Trainertools in the blue menu on the left.

The Exam tool shows you which students have taken exams, whether they passed or failed, and what their results were. For students who passed an exam you can generate and download diplomas. With this tool it is also possible to assign exams to students who have not yet completed all lessons, for example as an entry test.

See also:

• My student failed the exam. Now what?
• How do I know which mistakes my student has made in the exam?
• My student passed the exam. Now what?

Chessto delivers just-in-time coaching. He keeps an eye on which lesson(s) a child still needs to do in order to get a new badge on his or her way through a level in the learning pathway.

Once a week, Chessto distributes these lessons to the student as a special mission. Mission accomplished? Then a new badge will be displayed on the homepage and the child is one a step closer to completing the level and entering the exam.

As soon as all stickers have been received, the student can take the exam. The exam icon automatically shows up on the students homepage:

Remediation by Chessto

If a student fails the exam, Chessto takes action again. He analyses the mistakes that the child made during the exam. On the basis of this, he compiles a package of lessons that need to be practised in order to pass the resit. The student gets a friendly notification form Chessto and the remediations tasks are displayed on his/her homepage:

Engaged learning, relaxed teaching

Chessto's guidance, both in the exam coaching and during the lessons, ensures that children learn chess even more efficiently, so that they can quickly obtain chess diplomas and stay engaged in learning.

As a teacher, you can simply rely on Chessto to coach your students. This saves you time for personal contact with the children, a game of on-the-board chess, or other teaching chores. 

Students who practice in the simplified interface see a number of grey badges on their homepage, matching the learning goals of the level they play at. As soon as a student has sufficiently mastered a learning goal, the badge is displayed in full colour. Once a student has earned all the badges of a level, he or she automatically has access to the exam. That way, it is always clear how many badges still need to be earned before being able to take the exam.

Coaches can see which students can take exams in the Exams tool.

This can be found under the menu item Coach

Yes, you can.

• Go to the ‘Coach’ tab and click on the ‘Exams’ tool.
• Open the ‘Eligible students’ tab
• Enter the username of the student in question and choose the exam level
• Click on ‘Add’ to make the exam available on the student’s homepage

See also:

My student can already play chess. Is there an entry test?
My student has failed an exam. What now?

Once a student has collected all the stickers of a certain level, he/she can take an exam. The exam icon automatically appears on the student's homepage. 

If the student clicks on the exam icon, the exam starts:

The student can choose the order in which he/she finishes the tasks of the exam. As soon as all the assignments of a section have been made, a green check mark will appear in the overview. Good to know: this check does not mean that the student has passed this section, but only that the task in question has been completed. 

After the student has completed the last section, he/she is immediately shown the results.

Viewing results and obtaining diploma certificates

As a teacher, you can use the ‘Exams’ tool (on the ‘Coach’ tab) to see which students took exams, whether they passed or failed and what their results were. This is also the tool that you use to download and/or print diploma certificates for studends who passed an exam.

Go to the ‘Exams’ tool on the ‘Coach’ tab:

Here you see an overview of the Exams tool:

The exams consist of the same components for which stickers are earned in the lessons. For the Pawn diploma, these are, for example, the components: snake (piece movement), captures, clever captures, defense, checkmate, check (including defense against check) and rules (castling and en passant). Each component consists of 5 questions. To pass an exam, at least 80% of the tasks must be answered correctly. This does not have to happen in every section. Suppose a student scores slightly lower on the 'checkmate' section, then they can compensate by scoring extra well on 'captures'. 

The exams last 10 to 30 minutes, but there is no time limit. It is possible to stop the exam midway and continue at another time. All results are saved.

To pass an exam, at least 80% of the tasks must be completed correctly. This does not have to happen in every section. Suppose a student scores slightly lower on the 'checkmate' section, then they can compensate by scoring extra well on 'capture'. 

That is generally not necessary. The exams are designed to be clear without explanation. Generally, children manage without problems. Moreover, students who are allowed to take the exam have collected all the stickers! They have shown that they master the material.

Solving tasks in the exams is done in the same way as during the lessons. The student is already familiar with this. The only difference is that during an exam, it is not indicated after each task whether the answer was correct or incorrect. Also, the program provides no assistance. The student must complete the task entirely independently. It might be wise to mention this beforehand.

An exam takes about 10 to 30 minutes. There is no time limit and therefore no time pressure. Advise your students to take their time, think carefully about their answers, and click/tap carefully. Once an answer is entered, they cannot change it.

A student who doesn't pass the exam, doesn't have sufficient mastery of the required chess skills and knowledge. He or she has to practice a bit more on the elements that didn't go so well.

As soon as a student has finished the exam, he/she is immediately informed about the results. The overview that appears on screen indicates how many mistakes have been made per section.

If the student fails the exam, Chessity's artificial intelligence robot Chessto comes into action.As a teacher you can leave the remediation to Chessto without any worries. He analyses the mistakes that were made during the exam and then compiles a package of lessons that need to be rehearsed in order to pass the next attempt. The student gets a friendly notification form Chessto and the remediations tasks are displayed on his/her homepage:

Of course it is also possible for the teacher to gain insight into the results. In the Exams tool (Coach - Exams) you can see this by clicking on the icon with the eye:

The exam is meant to determine whether the student has mastered the lessons sufficiently to deserve a diploma. The overview that appears on-screen after the exam shows how many mistakes the student has made and in which elements, and which elements therefore require further attention.

Congratulations! Your student passed his or her Chessity exam! You can download a certificate via the button ‘Print diploma for selected users’ in the Exam tool:

We recommend using high-quality paper (at least 120 grams) to print out the diplomas or laminating printed certificates.

Recommended reading:

Celebrate achievements with Chessity's chess diploma's

As a teacher you have the possibility to manually give a student who has failed an exam the status 'passed'. This will overrule the exam result based on the outcomes that the program has recorded.

• Click on Exammanager (under Trainertools) in the blue menu on the left of your screen
• Go to the tab Students who failed

• Click on the diploma icon behind the student's name to assign the 'passed' status

This function is obviously not intended for a student who has insufficiently mastered the chess skills that are required to to pass the exam. If a student fails because he does not yet have sufficient mastery of the subject matter, he can try the exam again or first practice a little more with coaching from Chessto. See also: My student failed an exam. What now?

Only give a student the status passed if, for example, the WiFi failed during the exam, the computer crashed, you have witnessed how the student accidentally clicked on the wrong square due to a sneezing, etcetera.

No, that is not yet possible. But there is good news! Diplomas can be generated and downloaded for free under Celebrate Success in the blue menu in the teacher environment. We recommend printing them out. Experience shows that students particularly enjoy receiving a physical diploma. 

See also: My student has passed an exam. Where can I download the certificate?