One key thing is that the child must want to learn the game. If you try to force it on him or her, it will not be a successful endeavor.
Yes. That’s what I want to keep from doing. I’m going to check out Dino Chess. That’s funny about your daughter. Thank you.
I have been playing a bit with my sister since she was 4, about a month before her 5th birthday. It went better than expected. She got interested by watching me play with another of my sisters which is 7 years old.
The approach I took was to slowly introduce the pieces one by one with some slightly modified rules. When I introduce a piece I tell what its name is and how it moves. Then I turn it into a game where I place that piece on a square and asks if it can go to the square I'm pointing to. Repeat pointing to different squares until it is clear she knows how the piece moves. Then we play a game with the pieces introduced so far (can be without kings). The modified rules are
Only after introducing all the pieces I would go on and tell the real rules with promotion, checks, checkmates, stalemates, castling and en passant.
The first game is as simple as it gets and was designed for me to lose.
I am playing black and the first player to get a pawn to the last rank wins. Then we added more pawns to play a real game
And then all pawns
Then we added the kings (can also be played with 4 pawns each instead of 8)
Then it was time for the rooks
And then kept on going until all pieces was introduced.
The order I went with was pawn->king->rook->bishop->queen->knight, but you can go with whatever order you want. And this is not a procedure designed to get through within a day. Just something to keep going with each time she wanted to play and if she looses interest in the middle of a game, then that's fine, I'm not going to force her to play to the end. Before each time we play we also review some of the "older" pieces before introducing new ones.
Do not introduce him into chess. Plant the seed and let him get interested in it. My dad never had to teach me how to program computers. I started learning because I saw him reading and coding all the time so I eventually "wanted to be like my dad" and stole all his books and sold them on ebay.
Play chess around him, praise chess, he will develop an interest that way. Of course only god knows what will happen once he is mentally independent. He may hate you for making him play chess for 14 years and save him from unwanted teen pregnancies.
I have been playing a bit with my sister since she was 4...
What a wonderfully helpful post, Martin! Thank you for taking the time in putting all that together. Much appreciated!
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I’m sure it depends on each child, but generally, what is a good age to introduce children to chess and what would you recommend is the best way to do it without pressure and without ruining the experience and scaring them off? What was your experience and how did it help or hurt you?
Thank you.
I think 5 yr old is a good minimum age for chess based on the kids I see at local chess tournaments.
My son picked up chess by himself at around 6 by playing on an old Nook tablet; so at 6, they can learn on their own more or less. (At the time, I didn't like chess so was trying my best to discourage him.)
Do not introduce him into chess. Plant the seed and let him get interested in it. My dad never had to teach me how to program computers. I started learning because I saw him reading and coding all the time so I eventually "wanted to be like my dad" and stole all his books and sold them on ebay.
Play chess around him, praise chess, he will develop an interest that way. Of course only god knows what will happen once he is mentally independent. He may hate you for making him play chess for 14 years and save him from unwanted teen pregnancies.
Thank you. Yes, I agree with you, I have to find the best way and not force him. I want it to happen naturally for him. That's why I started talking to him about it in little stories and haven't shown him a board or any pieces yet.
He is not one to sit by and watch. He will want to get his hands in there right away. He is a brilliant boy who blows our minds with his brain power, but I'm not sure he is ready or has the patience for the subtleties of chess yet, but I'm also wondering if it's something that would be beneficial to him. If he's not mentally or physically challenged, he can be, uh... quite challenging.
I just want to do what's best for him, but am not really sure what that is.
Yesterday, I asked my grandson Jeremiah, who's four and a half, if he has ever played chess. "No," he said, "What is it?"
I explained it's a game and that each player has a king, queen, two castles, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns, and that it's played on a board like a checkerboard where the goal is to capture the other player's king so it can't move."
"Oh," he said, "They should have added a moat."
I’m sure it depends on each child, but generally, what is a good age to introduce children to chess and what would you recommend is the best way to do it without pressure and without ruining the experience and scaring them off? What was your experience and how did it help or hurt you?
Thank you.