Yea, it's very early for me to make this declaration, but there's no doubt that my kids are showing that kind of potential. Case in point:
Last Saturday, Gabriel (5 years old, BTW) and I were at Via Cappuccino playing chess. He'd just watched me play one of the other club members and stepped in to play a game. We've already played a few times and he can set up the board and make legal moves. I can't remember the exact position (outside of the critical pieces), but we eventually reached this position:
When we play, I mess around, but I don't just let him win. I'll mix it up and usually try to work some sort of concept or lesson into the game. In this position, without hesitation, he plays Qg8! While my mate threats were indefensible, this move accomplishes a lot, it forces me to make an extra move to win and he also threatens mate himself. But it was what happened next that truly amazed me...
I asked him why he'd made that move and he pointed AT MY KING and said, "I'm going to get you!" I then asked, "OK, if it were your move here, what would you do?"....he played Qxg2#! Yes...it's certain that he probably didn't factor in that I would get to move first and it's possible that the position of the bishop was coincidental, but there's no denying that he knows exactly what he needs to do to win and isn't very shy about taking a shot at it. I backed the position up and showed him how, from Qg8, whoever's move it was would win the game and showed him my checkmate.
