Teaching a Kid

I am an average player at best.  I am regularly destroyed by the computer on this web site.  Love to play though.  I am introducing the game to my nephew and he is exceptionally bright.  We played on a computer and he seemed to enjoy it.  He was playing on the second level before the evening was over, but had the squares light up to show him his possible moves.  He left today, still asking questions, and I feel he will be interested in exploring the world of chess.  Would like some advice on how to proceed.  He is 10 years old.

Lee  from Cincinnati

I believe Chess.com has a sister site that is more kid-friendly. Can't recall what it was called but that seems like a one-stop shop for your son's continued progress with chess ...

If you'd prefer face-to-face chess training, you'd essentially want to balance "playing games" while playing close attention to the kind of mistakes he's making .... these provide data points you can  use to provide lessons suited to his needs.  

Tactical exercises and basic endgames can be quite fun.  You might look into chess mazes (which do wonders at improving visualization for kids starting out) as well for productive exercises.

I believe there's a website called ProfessorChess with some remarkable handouts and instructional material used for teaching.

Once he's regularly beating you during your "play" sessions and ASSUMING he's improving by leaps and bounds, you might want to consider getting him a coach.

chesskid.com

not many strong players there i would guess... and all kids! i would recommend your nephew to go to that site.

OK warrior I get what you are saying.  But with all of the social media and gadgets and not to mention the baseball team he is on, how can I keep him interesteded?  How do I explain the lifelong enjoyment that chess provides?

Been to Maine.  Bar Harbor is beautiful.  Nothing like Maine in July.

Lee

Thanks to all for commenting.  Am new to this type of communication.  Will try to respond to all.

Lee

Well, the right answer might be :  you don't. 

The last kid I coached used to wake her parents at 6 a.m. holding a chessboard because she wanted to play a game.  

On the flip side, I've seen a ton of kids turn away from the game because "learning" and "fun" stopped being the same thing after a while.

That's the critical thing. Is "fun" just about winning and whaling on the kids in your neighborhood or is it about seeking out stronger competition and learning how to take them down? If it's the latter with your son, you really don't have to do much. He'll find chess before chess finds him.

Even before I realized how nuanced and wonderful chess was, I still wanted to play it as much as possible. Yes, I played twice as badly as I do now and had no clue what those dang letters and numbers on the board were for ... but I still wanted to play.   Chances are, so did you.  :)

This is to Shivsky:

This post is what I am refering to- how to walk on that edge.  He is a bright kid but how do I keep him interested with all else in the world?  Should I, an average player, teach him?  We all have fun playing chess but should also learn the higher meaning. 

LJ

I agree there are far too many distractions that a kid can afford to swim in these days ... even those who are of an  "intellectual/analytical" bent. 

Some will take to chess for all the right reasons, some will think it nothing more than a trifling indulgence that can be abandoned in a heartbeat when the next Nintendo DSi console appears.

I still believe it makes little sense to "impose" your sense of wonder or higher meaning for the game onto the child ... he ought to enjoy it on his own terms and let him find all that is good on his own.

Though a few things that could gently nudge him into it could be:

- Setting micro-goals

- If you are consistently beating him, bring in a clock and give yourself a time-handicap such that the score is even. Then ask him to do one level better than that. Keep challenging him the way a video game does ... level 1, level 2 and so on.

 - Carrot-and-stick all study sessions.  There's enough material out there to make fun puzzles and tasks for him to work out. 

- Exposure to a serious chess playing environment

- Take him to a big city scholastic tournament and let him see how intense the environment can be.  Make sure he sticks around to see kids win those big trophies.

- Take him to big city clubs.  He'll find a lot of adults + kids playing and trying to get better ... like most kids, watching peers throw themselves into something is usually a way to get them curious as well.

The question of whether you should teach him purely lies in your ability to beat him 60-70% of the time.  If/When this percentage drops, have him play competitively and see if he likes it. If he does, get a coach.

Shivsky:

Thank you for the tips.  You make sense and have given much to think about.

LJ

Make sure to join the chess club at school or start one if there isnt one.

It`s lots of fun to play folks at school.

i'm a kid; the thing about chesskid.com is that it is limited in terms of the playing really good players, while here you have extremely strong players and more coaching facilities. if u are worried about the chat, disable it or filter it or just rely on ur son to be responsible with it!

Buy him an Xbox 360 and promise him you will buy it for him if he plays chess on it atleast 30 minutes daily!

Just keep playing games with him..the friendship and attention goes a long way to keeping him interested..join tournaments together to support each other..If you win he looks up to you..if you get crushed he'll learn to accept the fact that there are better players out there and not feel bad if he runs across one..teach each other, learn from each other..you dont have to be the know all expert...share the learning experience and the discoveries...That what my teacher did with me...I'm not the best neither is he but we enjoy growing together..

Tiff

All wonderful comments.  Thanks to all. 

Lee