Chess Level Testing
Progress With Chess has five defined chess levels:
CHESS LEVELS
Beginner: Brand new to chess or has limited experience.
Novice: Knows how pieces move; needs to learn simple checkmates and rules such as stalemate, castling, & promotion.
Intermediate: Knows all the rules and can play a legal game of chess. Needs to learn basic tactics & strategies.
Advanced: Good player; understands basic strategy and tactics and is ready for tournament play.
Advanced Plus: Experienced rated tournament player over 400 USCF; understands some deeper plans and tactics.
Note: After these levels we use their USCF official chess rating to gauge skill and improvement.
Tests
There are versions of each test: A, B, C & P. Each version is the same level of difficulty and tests the same concept.
It is recommended that you hand different versions out to avoid students working together or cheating on the test.
Beginner
Has never played chess before or has limited experience.
Students need to score 6 out of 8 on Pawn Level to advance to Novice level.
Novice
Knows the moves of the pieces, needs to learn the rules and simple checkmates.
Students need to score 6 out of 8 on Knight Level to advance to Intermediate level.
Intermediate
Knows all the rules, needs to learn basic strategy & tactics.
Students need to score 6 out of 8 on Rook Level to advance to Advanced level.
Advanced
If a student scores 6 out of 8 on any of these exams, they are ready to play in the U800-U1000 section of any tournament!
Please submit forms to eliot@progresswithchess.org or dylan@progresswithchess.org for grading assistance
