A few ideas
- Start him on Chess.com's chess mentor (do it sequentially, not adaptively ... and pick the most basic lessons. Work your way upwards from there ... )
- At 500, visualization will be the BIG handicap. I've seen kids at this level practice 100s of basic tactical exercises but are not yet skilled enough to see a hung piece on the board in an actual game. You might as well focus on getting his board vision stronger to begin with before working on his tactics. Try:
- Chess mazes (chesscafe.com has a ton of these in its archives section) and seek out the maze books by Woolum and Bruce Albertson
- Chess Master has some good visualization drills that can be quite fun.
- To work on their Knight Vision (often the hardest piece for them to master), I've had tons of success getting kids hooked on to this "training game" on yahoo.
http://games.yahoo.com/game/crazy-chess
Beyond this ... ensure that you are maintaining a steady improvement-feedback loop by reviewing his games, getting critique (coach, stronger player etc.) and applying what he has learned in future games.
My son is a beginner who needs regular training and instruction. I play a few games per week with him, but I'd like to get him started with something online so he can practice every day.
What training materials on chess.com or elsewhere do you recommend for a USCF 500-rated player? What would it cost to get him signed up?
Thanks,
angelo DePalma