Welcome to the Fall 2025 weekly newsletter! This is where we will share a weekly update on league standings, highlight some great moments from each week’s games, learn a thing or two from our coaches, and of course, share any news about Rookly.

First let’s look at last week’s scores. You can click on the title of a league to view the full standings for that league. The standings pages are public, so please feel free to share with parents, friends, or whoever you think might be interested.

Keep in mind that each team’s overall season score is made up of its six best weekly scores, so some leads may not be as big as they seem!

We will be sending out a helpful FAQ this week to go over scoring in more detail, so stay tuned for that.

And now, the standings!

Week #4 Standings

Game of the Week

Our game of the week this week goes to Jayden W (Holy Ghost Prep) and Raymond L (Bement)!

This game started as a Giuoco Pianissimo, but it was anything but quiet. Jayden (white) slowly and steadily built an advantage until a blunder on move 41 swung the momentum in favor of Raymond!

Raymond was then able to find a winning idea in the endgame, and was on the brink of creating a passed pawn when his king, in a precarious position after wisely being used offensively, was trapped on the edge of the board. Jayden was then able to swoop in with his rook and bring this one to an abrupt end!

Thank you to both players for some excellent play and a wildly entertaining game to have in the final moments of the match!

You can check out the full game here:

Coaches’ Corner

Coach Lucas’s tip of the week:

Last week, we looked at the concept of material, or the relative point values of each piece. If you recall, we said that knights are worth three points—let’s talk about a basic principal to help you get the most out of those three points!

Let’s consider the two possible moves of our g1 knight at the beginning of the game, Nf3 and Nh3. Which move is better?

Let’s look at Nh3 first:

And now let’s look at Nf3:

Nf3 is much better! For one thing, our knight is targeting eight squares after Nf3, compared to only four squares for Nh3. We’re getting much better value out of our knight when it can target more squares on the board.

Secondly, Nf3 helps control the center by targeting the d4 and e5 squares. In chess, we often want to control the center of the board, as control of the center often means control of the game.

Let’s look at a very typical start to the game, 1. e4 e5:

Now the Nf3 move is immediately useful, as it targets black’s pawn on e5!

A common response for black will be to apply the exact same concept by using their own knight to fight for central control:

You might even see the other two knights hop in as well! This is a common opening called the Four Knights Game.

Now both players have their knights on their ideal squares where they are able to contribute to the battle for the center of the board.

Just look at how many squares are covered by white’s knights after only the third move!

A simple concept to be aware of is that knights love to be in the 16 central squares of the board. From any of these squares, a knight will be targeting eight squares:

The closer knights get to the edge of the board, the fewer moves they have available:

In the corners, knights only have two moves available!

So centralize those knights!

Keep in mind that this is a general guideline, not a strict rule. You’ll often run into situations where it’s worth it to have your knight end up in the corner!

When I’m not sure what to do in a game, I often like to ask myself: can I improve my knights?

The answer is often yes!

If there’s anything that you need help with this week please feel free to get in touch with Coach Lucas at lucas@​rookly​.com.

Looking forward to another great week of chess!