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Introducing Chess to Children - The Right Approach
by Cameron Duffman
Playing chess from an early age helps children develop healthy mental skills in the areas of concentration, imagination, problem-solving, planning, decision-making etc. Naturally, academic performance improves as also the ability to cope with challenges in life.
The right age for a child to be taught chess formally is when he is intellectually and emotionally up to the challenge. It is important to be careful, because chess is not an easy game to learn and if care is not taken the child may feel discouraged. By seven or eight, most children can usually grasp all aspects of chess and that is the time either the parent or a reasonably good player can help the child to learn to play the game. The child can pick up the game rapidly by observing adults play and discuss chess. This is an unstressful way to learn chess. In fact, one of the greatest players, Capablanca learned to play chess by observing his father play chess with friends and beating him in the very first game he played. The most important thing is for the 'fun' element to dominate. For that, it is important that the child apart from any coaching or formal learning, plays with friends in a competitive environment ideally at a club or in a school chess program If, after each game mistakes are pointed out, so much the better because such feedback speeds up the learning process. Of course, there are self-motivated children who play almost exclusively with coaches and in tournaments. But, that is only for the exceptionally talented and ambitious. Playing lots of games with other children kindles passion for chess motivating the child to improve his game so that he can win. Once the child learns to play chess at a basic level, it is important to have a personal coach who should be at least a 2000 level player, can communicate well with children and be a good role model.The coach can teach the three main phases of the game-opening, middle and ending, in a holistic way and also the right thinking processes in various positions. A basic chess book is an absolute necessity to start the kid off on a journey of self-study. Chess For Kids by IM Michael Basman, is an entertaining and instructive basic text. This book is easy to follow with an attractive lay-out. More advanced is Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan which covers basic concepts of chess and discusses in detail four principles- force, time, space and pawn structure. This book is suitable for an older child who is capable of going through the book on his own. It is important that a child attains a certain level of play before he participates in a chess tournament. He must be gently encouraged to always learn- analyze and think about the mistakes he has made in his games on his own as soon as possible and then cross-check his findings with the coach.
About the Author
Great chess resources and supplies can be found at great prices at Wholesale Chess. Watch for the ideal chess set for training a young child in chess.
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