Chess Dad needs advice

This is from a PowerPoint slide that I inherited for a class I teach. I have no idea what it says.

• “A computer as a research and communication instrument could enhance retrieval, obsolesce mass library organization, retrieve the individual's encyclopedic function and flip into a private line to speedily tailored data of a saleable kind.” (Marshall McLuhan 1962)

He likes to insult people on a chess forum because he's an insecure and egotistical xenophobe who knows nothing about the people he's insulting. He tries to criticize other people's hobbies to feel better about his own sad life. He enjoys using this site to insult people using this website rather than using his own time to talk to his friends and do anything meaningful. Which is kind of ironic. 

with both translation & subtitles

Alright a little to far.

Let's not make assumptions

Fun video, but what was Marshall McLuhan trying to say? In plain English, if that's possible. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWUc8BZgWE

Looks like a prophecy of the internet with search engines and Wikipedia. 

Buy a Chessmaster Grandmaster edition DVD.

Kids will definately love interactive media.

There are 150 virtual opponents, lessons , annotated games etc. 

^^^ +1

I learnt a lot from the Josh Waitzkin lessons. They were pretty much how I came from beginner to intermediate(Or for those who think I'm still a newb, advanced beginner).

Does he specifically anticipate the rise of crowd sourcing and the death of expertise?

Doesn't seem to indicate any of that.  Only that storage, search and retrieval will be trivial. 

I know Spongey IRL and have played him OTB. He’s a good guy.

Yeah, so was Jeffrey Dahmer, so long as you ask his mother.

soooo ziryab is spongey's mother?  the bunny still hasn't got a handle on how implications work ...

The implication is that while one advocate is better than none, that's all it's better than.

Not that Z's support is in vain. I'm going to refrain from dumping on the sponge man whenever I see him do his thing, but recent shenanigans from S have solidified my view of him.

But I love the picture

All people I play OTB are good persons if they lose.

I'm working through how to teach my son chess as well. He's at the bottom end of being able to pick it up (he will turn five in November).

For Christmas last year we bought him Story Time Chess. I thought it would be something fun we could do together for the rest of our lives (I still really enjoy playing chess with my dad). He played his first full game in January. I think Story Time Chess is a great way to get a kid started out learning the moves. 

It was interesting, however, that a little while after he started playing full games he started losing interest in playing at all. He really enjoyed it when we were learning the moves and doing the exercises from story time chess, but full games were tough. I thought it might be partially because he wasn't winning, so I started trying to give him an advantage. I give myself 1 min on the clock, spot him my queen and give him maybe 20 minutes. However, his interest still waned. 

There are a few basic things I taught him during this period. First were the three basic opening principals 1. Control the center, 2. Develop your pieces, 3. Castle. Another key element are the three ways to get out of check (or avoid losing a piece). 1. Move your King (or piece), 2. Block the attack, 3. Capture the attacker. He started to get the idea. He can pretty much recite these from memory and whenever the situation arises I have him repeat them to me and decide which is appropriate.

However, he would get lost in the middle game. Once all his pieces were out he started to lose interest. I started trying to discuss looking for opportunities. What can you capture? Can you give any checks? Does your opponent have any undefended pieces? How many attackers target this piece? How many defenders does it have? Still, full games were difficult. I think the duration is just too much.

Recently I've adjusted my strategy a little. I signed him up on ChessKids (run by the same folks as chess.com). He really enjoys playing against the robots. He doesn't play any other computer games, so playing the engines on ChessKids was a treat for him. At first, I would allow him to play on Chesskids after we played a game together, but again, I think a full game is still too much. What I've started doing now is working through a couple of chess problems (again from ChessKids) with him before letting him just play against the computer. That has worked well so far. He enjoys it and he's learning those same ideas that are important after the opening. Whenever we start a puzzle I ask him, can you capture any pieces? Can you give any checks? Does your opponent have any undefended pieces? Usually, if he finds those things they point to the puzzle's solution. The only other key piece is that Emmanuel Lasker quote, "If you find a good move, look for a better one."

This is working ok for me so far. Hopefully, that little piece of my journey is helpful.

Hi,

I teach really young kids and adults, too, so I think I could help you.  I am an official, full-time chess coach, so we could work together in the long run. Let me introduce myself.

My name is Gabor Balazs. I am a Hungarian FM, fighting for the IM title. My top ELO is 2435. I have been playing chess for 21 years. I won the Hungarian Rapid Championship twice (U16 and U18).

I love teaching chess and it is very important for me that both of us enjoy the lessons beside the hard work. I have pupils almost all the levels from beginners to advanced players (1100-2200 ELO).

You can see a lot of feedbacks from my coaching services here: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-lessons/feedbacks-from-my-services

Why should you choose me?

- I have a widespread opening repertoire (a lot of openings are analysed by strong Grand Masters).

- I have a lot of chess books in PDF and Chessbase format, so I can teach you the main middlegame plans, the art of calculations, famous chess games and the endgame theory.

- I have elaborated, personalized training plans, which help you to improve your skills effectively.

- I help you analyse your games deeply, so you can realise your mistakes and learn from them.

- I am really flexible and hard-working person, the quality of my work is really important for me.

- My lessons are on Skype or Zoom with webcam and screensharing. (Skype ID: balazs.gabor91 ; Zoom ID: balazsgabor1991@gmail.com)

- I give homeworks, so you can also practice alone and I check your solutions in my free time.

- I answer your messages within 1 day, I am not the type of coach who disappears for a week after the lesson.

My hourly rate is 35 USD/hour.

Please, contact me (balazsgabor1991@gmail.com), if you are interested in working with me, I am looking forward to your message.