My Path to Improvement #2: Can I Make Chess Interesting for Girls?

In the early 2000s, I became the father of two girls. As they grew older, I started introducing the game to them. That meant I zeroed in on the market and to my delight, I found Fritz and Chester.

My kids loved F&C more than actual chess because it turned chess learning into a silly adventure. Who doesn't love smashing toilets and defeating King Black's antics?

When my oldest was in third grade, she attended a private school with a unique schedule. During the school day, once a week, the administration rotated enrichment classes (art, music, etc.) and was looking for extracurricular activities for Mondays. I suggested chess and quickly became a third-grade scholastic chess educator. It wasn't long before we had a club after school, and in a couple of years, many were playing chess. 

I used FirstMove's curriculum because 1) the lesson plans were awesome and 2) the videos came with a female teacher. That made chess less threatening for the girls. I turned to Judith Polgar's early videos when there was a new kid. 

It wasn't long before older kids wanted lessons, and I was using Gary Karsparov's material with them. 

Chess.com was just being born so everything we did was analog. I taught notation, kids solved puzzles with pencils and paper, they earned prizes. Our chess club was the coolest.

At home, I had my Jeremy Silman book and bought Junior 7.0 after Kasparov lost to Deep Blue. Junior 7.0 was so ridiculously smart; I never had a chance. But playing games was pretty far from my radar at this point. I was an evangelist and a collector of teaching tools. It was always rewarding to see kids pick up the game.

As my kids aged out of elementary school, I took my chess club on the road to an afterschool program with inner city youth. It became a way to connect with kids and see how the game could serve as a conduit to make a difference in people's lives.

It was always improbable that I could connect with kids, but the game made that possible. 

Perhaps you can see why I got out of playing competitive chess. In the next post in this series, I'll tell how some college students inspired me to sit across the board from them.