This DeCal aims to introduce students to the fundamentals of chess, ranging from the basic rules to more abstract positional concepts. To highlight the importance of practice and game analysis, as well as to employ a hands-on and heuristic approach to learning, students will create a free Lichess account and employ the course concepts in their own games. The course will also emphasize the relevance of the skills developed in chess (such as responsibility, strategic thinking, time management, planning, and integrity) to success in other aspects of life, whether it be in education, in the workplace, or even purely personal. Topics covered will be flexible but will loosely adhere to the following structure: basic rules, opening principles, basic tactics such as pins, and skewers, and forks, positional strengths and weaknesses, endgame technique, and other topics of interest. We will also include snippets from the history of chess and certain case studies to illustrate various concepts from the course. This course is intended to expose students who have no chess experience or only know the basic rules of chess to the basic strategies and fundamentals of chess. It will not be a rigorous course intended to guide students to mastery. show less