Five pillars, two strands, one standard.
Five pillars and two strands, in every book.
Five pillars
Five pillars run through every book: openings and development, tactics and calculation, strategy and positional play, defensive resilience, and endgame technique.
Two strands
Two strands run beside them: the Game Lab, and Conduct and Service. The Game Lab: record, comment and study your own games. Conduct and Service: the four courtesies at every board.
A STEM lab in every chapter
Every chapter ends with a STEM lab in seven parts: predict, measure, record, show, conclude, connect, and an exit ticket. Each lab ends with a footer naming the New York State mathematics or computer-science standard it practices. Forty STEM labs, five in every book.
Rank Day
After each twelve-week cycle comes Rank Day: a quiz, a puzzle set, games, a short oral explanation and the cycle's portfolio, weighted by tier. A learner passes at 70 or more, with no attribute below Developing and conduct at Proficient. Rank Day is a day of its own, and the report comes within two weeks.
Exhibits
Exhibits begin at Orange: My Game Collection, Design a Trap, the Human vs Engine Report, the Club Service Record, Teach a Lesson, and the Capstone Study.
Certificates
There are nine learner certificates: one to begin at White and one for each of the eight ranks. Ranks are earned and recorded on a certificate; nothing is worn.
Every chess position in the books is engine-verified with Stockfish or completely solved, and each book says which.
Not issued, approved or endorsed by the New York State Education Department or any school district. Schools decide how to use its reports.