During our chess classes, our coaches hand out “Chess Star” awards to students who have excelled in a particular area of the lesson.
These awards are small coloured certificates, and each colour represents a different achievement. There are 8 different types of Chess Star awards:
- Excellent Behaviour (Blue)
- Amazing Concentration (Green)
- Good Sportsmanship (Orange)
- Great Problem Solving (Purple)
- Terrific Effort (Light Blue)
- Unbelievable Improvement (Light Green)
- Most Brilliant Checkmate (Red)
- Most Clever Tactic (Yellow)
If students can collect a number of Chess Star awards, they can win a bigger certificate, or even a trophy!
Extra certificates are awarded for these quantities:
- Any 10 Chess Star awards = Bronze Pawn Award
- Any 15 Chess Star awards = Silver Knight Award
- Any 20 Chess Star awards = Gold King Award (for boys) or Gold Queen award (for girls). These awards also come with a trophy, which is yours to keep!
- Any 40 Chess Star awards = Platinum Queen Award (for boys) or Platinum King Award (for girls). These awards also come with a trophy! Boys receive a queen trophy as they will have already collected the king trophy from their gold award, and vice versa for girls.
- Any 60 Chess Star awards = Double Platinum Medieval King Award. This award also comes with a trophy!
- Any 80 Chess Star awards = Diamond Castling Award. This award also comes with a trophy!
Extra certificates are also awarded for collecting different coloured awards, as this shows achievement in a number of different areas:
- 6 different coloured Chess Star awards = Rainbow Bishop Award
- 8 different coloured Chess Star awards = Rainbow Rook Award
If students wish to claim an extra certificate, they need to bring the awards they have collected to their chess coach. The coach will then mark the back of these awards, and return them to the student. Children can then use these awards again, once they have collected enough to reach the next certificate. For example:
If a student has brought in 10 Chess Star awards, the chess coach will mark a small “B” (for bronze) on the back of all the awards. These awards will be given back to the student, along with a Bronze Pawn Award. Once the student earns 5 more Chess Star awards, they can bring in their 15 awards to claim their Silver Knight Award.
Please note that our coaches do not always have extra certificates and trophies on hand, so your child may have to wait one week to receive these.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q) I have some Chess Star awards from last year – can I use these to claim an extra certificate?
A) Yes, you can use any award from any year. You can use a combination of awards from our school chess classes, our chess clubs and our holiday events.
Q) Should I claim my Bronze Pawn Award now? Because I really want to save up all my awards for the Gold King trophy!
A) Yes, you should definitely claim your Bronze Pawn Award now. You will get your 10 awards back, and you can still use those as part of your 20 awards to receive the Gold King Award and trophy.
Q) I have a Bronze Pawn Award and 14 Chess Star awards – does the Bronze Pawn award count towards the 15 awards I need to claim a Silver Knight Award?
A) No, you cannot use Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum or Rainbow awards to claim extra certificates. You must save up the correct number of coloured Chess Star awards.
Q) If I have 10 awards and also 6 different colours, can I get a Bronze Pawn and a Rainbow Bishop Award?
A) Yes, you will get both at the same time!
Q) I have 15 awards, but I haven’t claimed any extra certificates yet – which awards will I get?
A) You will get a Bronze Pawn Award and a Silver Knight Award. Count up how many different colours you have – if you have at least 6, you can also get a Rainbow Bishop Award!
Q) I lost some of my Chess Star awards – can I still claim an extra certificate?
A) In general, you need to show your Chess Star awards in order to claim your extra certificates. Exceptions may be made in some circumstances, but only if the coach has a record of the award that are missing. Please ask your chess coach or contact the Sydney Academy of Chess office.
Q) Some of my Chess Star awards look a bit different to others – can I still use these to claim an extra certificate?
A) In mid-2011, we updated the design of our Chess Star awards. The colour scheme and categories remain the same, so you can use a combination of the old-style and new-style awards.