How do YOU teach someone the basics of chess?

I'm curious as to how different people prefer to teach the basics of the game to someone brand new that wants to learn how to play.

I prefer to start by defining the ultimate objective: Checkmate. I then explain the pawns and their various rules (captures on the diagonal, not forward... can only move one square except for it's first move, etc.), then get into the movements of the pieces... finishing with an explanation of three special rules: En passant, castling, and pawn promotion. If I feel they are getting overwhelmed by the initial description of the piece movements I'll skip over the special rules until later, and point them out to them as the situation develops in an actual game. During their first game I tell them beforehand that I'd like to play a "just for fun" game so I can point out various things as they arise, where I focus on their moves more than my own and can show various possibilities they have to choose from. After that I follow up with a second game where they are "left to swim on their own".

How about you? Is there a method or list you like to go through when you teach the game to someone totally new? My main concern is not overwhelming them and trying to ensure they walk away thinking what a fun game it is... making them enthusiastic to continue playing chess. Someone once did that for me, and I imagine most of us had similiar first experiences like that, otherwise we wouldn't still be playing!

I had similar question in mind and to know the answer, I came to this forum. My actual question is how to teach 'Kids' chess and since it would be separate topic, I would post it separately.

I've taught some guys chess and I also start teaching with what's the objective of the game: capturing the King. However, I don't go too much into checkmate.

I'll start with how each power must move and I'll explain the unusual moves like 'castling' and 'En Passant' so that the newbie isn't confused when he/she see such moves. I'll then teach important factors like being cautious with 'FGH' pawns and then I'll then go more into Checks and checkmate.

I've used two sequences, at each stage there is play. I teach in elementary school classrooms with 22-26 kids. Grades K-5.

1. pawn wars (no en passant, yet)--game ends with pawn promotion
2. kings and pawns (pawn promotion ends game)
3. add rooks and bishops to the mix (explain checkmate; ends game)
4. add queens and knights--show some 10-15 move miniatures, introduce castling

en passant may be introduced now

1. Checkmate with queen and king vs. king

     play a game queen vs. king. Object: to confine king to edge in less than fifteen moves

2. Introduce pawns

     play one queen vs. eight pawns. Pawns win if one promotes or queen captured; queen if all pawns are captured

3. Add rooks and bishops 

     Play from starting position, sans knights

4. Add knights, castling, en passant. Show miniatures as above.

I also teach in an elementary school.

I start with white always goes first and the goal is checkmate. In teaching the moves, I go with the rooks first, then bishop, queen, and king. Then the knights. They go 2 forward and 1 to the side or 1 forward and 2 to the side and same backwards. The pawns I teach last. As I show how each piece moves I also show how that piece captures. Each pawn has a first move etc. I don't teach any special moves at first--most kids want to play a game as soon as possible.

Before playing, we shake hands. I play towards the center, the kids most often play from the edges, then they want to use the knights. The first game is just about moving the pieces. From the second game, I start pointing out the consequences. "Sure you can move your queen there but look at what my night can do after that." After each game we shake hands and I thank the student for playing. 

Thanks for your replies! Occasionally someone finds out I enjoy chess and shows an interest in learning the game... I want to ensure I introduce them to the game in the best way possible so they want to come back for more!

call me

.......................\.

01 August 2017

Lesson One

 

Where do you begin when teaching chess to a beginner? Certainly, the first steps should be the board and how the pieces move, as Daniel Rensch offers in "Everything You Need to Know 1: Start Playing Chess" on Chess.com. Or, perhaps there is a flaw in this approach. Momir Radovic claims the approach that starts with the moves is flawed, quoting Aron Nimzovich, "How I Became a Grandmaster" (1929).*

Let's start from the beginning -- from the very first lesson. "Moves were shown" to me -- was that the right thing to do? Well, of course, my dear reader would say, it's impossible to play chess without it. But the thing is, the reader makes a mistake: this method is utterly wrong.
Nimzovich, trans. by Alexey Spectra

 

 

"Utterly wrong" in this translation is presented as "fundamentally flawed" by Radovic (see "How We Fail Big Time in Teaching Chess"). Nimzovich asserts that one should begin with the board, specifically mentioning the border between the players and the center; then with the rook and the concept of ranks and files. Radovic suggests contacts, which appear to be embodied in Nimzovich's lesson with a White rook on e1 and a Black pawn on e6. Yuri Averbakh. Chess Tactics for Advanced Players (1972) develops a theory of contacts that I imagine must be part of what informs Radovic's approach.

Read more at http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2017/08/lesson-one.html