that's real nice! My little brother is 8 and he has watched me play chess online so much that he begged me to no end to set him up an account. so, finally I gave in..... but, I do watch who he plays and what-not, not that he knows how to go out and find an opponent himself...
Though, I can't say I would know how to really teach a 4-year-old. Afterall, he still is a bit young, but I'm sure he'll grow up loving chess with your influence.
I learned in school; schools and chess clubs are by far the best place to learn and improve chess. I should know, because when I stopped playing in school, I soon stopped playing.
Buy your son a chess book or just teach him yourself.
Be patient, little kids are very inattentive and will screw up moves a lot. It will take more than an day to teach.
If your son can read, show him this.
start with checkers... it has the same kind of thought process but moves are easier
Thank you for the suggestions so far. My son has difficulty reading at the moment (as he is learning two completely different languages) but am sure when he reaches an older age, he will be ready to start learning with books.
I remember when I was 10 years old, I got my first Chess book and kept that. I also attended a chess club and played in school competitions. It would great to offer my son the same chance as I had when I was young.
Anymore suggestions for teaching youngsters chess? Does anyone recommend any form of teaching for young learners?
Start by playing what is known as the "pawn game". Simply setup all 16 pawns and the objective is to push a pawn to the other side of the board to win. Once this becomes easy for him, add the Rook, then add the Bishop, then the Queen. At some point take off each of these pieces and add the King.
To teach mating patterns, place the King on the board and place a penny in each of the squares surrouding the King. One piece at a time, place an opposite color piece on the board and have your son remove the pennies that remove squares the King can move to. When there are no pennies (escape squares) and the King is in check he should eventually be able to identify the position as checkmate.
Next, start doing simple tactic puzzles. My four year old daughter (five in September) learned in this fashion and is able to dominate children 7 years and up at a local beginners club and will begin playing in tournaments next month. We started tactic puzzles with simple mates in one, then gain a piece puzzles. Now we're doing mates in two. I recommend the Manual of Chess Combinations 1a chess puzzles book (http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Chess-Combinations-Vol-School/dp/5946930451/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216611072&sr=1-1) as it give themes which make it easy for beginners (such as white gains a Queen, black gains a Rook, Mate in 2 by means of a Queen Sacrifice, Mate in 2 by means of a double check). When starting a new puzzle theme allow him to move the pieces, but gradually have him think it out without touching the pieces.
Additionally, I highly recommend the Chessmaster PC Game, either version 10 or the latest Grandmaster Edition as it has very good introduction information for beginners to each piece, tactics, strategies, etc that work well for children.
I used this method for both my 7 year old and the 4 year old I described above. They both love chess and practice for about 1-2 hours a day and have a lot of fun with it. If you want any more information feel free to message me or respond in this thread. Best of luck!
Thank you brewd. This is really invaluable. I wish there were more chess clubs in Korea but there isn't. I shall definately take some time to think about teaching young learners and take your advice about teaching the moves.
I am glad that my son can setup the board and am sure he will learn the pieces and the aim of the game. I shall probably get a PC Game to improve my son's ability. Does Chessmaster have a learning function for kids?
My daughter turned two on tuesday, and so far she's been able to set up the Rook, Knight, and Bishop the King and Queen are alittle confusing but she seems to always get the board lined up correctly. (white to the right)
thanks for the tip Brewd about the pawn game.
Is there a parent of young childrens group on chess.com?
should we start one?
Good idea about starting up a young childrens chess group.
I guess the general rule of thumb when teaching kids, is to be patient. Any ideas how long it should take young children to pick up chess? What is the best environment to teach children? Any other ideas, tips or tricks when teaching kids?
well, my father taught me chess when i was five, and basically he taught me how to move and call the pieces. He made me show him how every piece moved everyday until i memerized it. After that i dont remember sorry
i'm introducing my 5 year old nephew to chess, we've spent time setting up the board and he knows what the pieces are called but not had enough time or chances to sit down and fully explain the moves (next chance i get i will be introducing the techniques mentioned above by brewd...thanks brewd!).
To teach mating patterns, place the King on the board and place a penny in each of the squares surrouding the King. One piece at a time, place an opposite color piece on the board and have your son remove the pennies that remove squares the King can move to. When there are no pennies (escape squares) and the King is in check he should eventually be able to identify the position as checkmate.
and then give the pennies to his allowance... :)
I have created a team for those whom are parents and would like to meet similar and like minded individuals.
http://www.chess.com/groups/home/the-parents-team
Good luck and I hope to see you on board.
Completely agree with Brewd above. After the Pawn game is learned (don't forget to teach en passant capture) then play the Pawn game plus one piece,choosing each piece in succession in increasing order of difficulty (rook, bishop, queen, king, knight).
You might also look into software that has been used by kids as young as four (best for kids a little older though) and gets great reviews from almost everyone called Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster.
This post is getting bumped so that those that want to join and contribute to the team, please do so:
http://www.chess.com/groups/home/the-parents-team
I would like to see this team achieve respectable status and join tournaments with other respectable teams. I hope to see you on our team. Thanks for the support.
Hello,
I am trying to get my son interested in chess and so far he can set up the chess board. He is about 4 years old and from time to time he gets the chess board out and starts to set it up by himself.
I would like to introduce the game to him (how pieces move, the aim of the game and other rules) but it is difficult and quite slow due to his age. Does anyone have any useful suggestions to teach young children chess?
We are currently living in Korea but when we move to the UK next year, we are sure to both start going to a chess club. I would like to get my son playing at school as well.
So if anyone has any stories of teaching chess to young children, you remember learning when you were young, or are currently teaching your/someones child chess, I am all ears.