Teaching Chess to Absolute Beginners

I'm an English teacher and a couple of my 10 year-old students recently asked me why every time they saw me on the computer in the staff room, I was playing chess.  I told them that I loved the game and that it's fun and great exercise for your brain.  So, they asked me to teach them.

I brought my board today and taught them the names of the pieces in English and how to set up the board and how each of the pieces moved(I left out castling for the moment).  They played each other for about 20 minutes and seemed to really love it.  They asked if they can come to the office again tomorrow.

But I was wondering.  How should I teach them?  Do I let them blunder around forever?  I'm not trying to make mini GMs here(not that I could, even if I wanted to) but I do want to help get them off to a good basic understanding.

Anybody got any thoughts/suggestions/memories from when you learned?

I would suggest finding a book that teaches beginners the rules of chess. Show them the rules fully, and let them play.

If they want to play more, introduce them to chess.com's website and the possibilities of playing different chess time controls.

If they ask how to get better, tell them about studying and reading chess books. If they have computers, they are able to learn and practice online.

I know that they could work on some basic chess tactics, that chess.com kid's site has to offer.

There's also downloads in the resources tab, and under the fun tab, you could expand their knowledge by making it fun using them.

Not sure if this helps but good luck. You have open doors for young minds.

To start out teaching, start with a few simple checkmates (ie, King and Queen vs King, King + 2 Rooks, King + 1 Rook), let them work on that a bit, and then let them play a little. If they seem amenable to more instruction over time, give them more, starting with the basic principles of keeping your pieces safe. But you should start with maybe 5 minutes of quick instruction, a few minutes for them to practice, and then let them play a bit. Does your school have a chess club?

No, definitely not.  I doubt there are more than a handful of people who know how to move the pieces.

 Hmmm...how did kids ever cope without chess.com? 

guess u should maybe teach them some points, like forks and all. not tu complicated thogh. just show tem wat would happen if a peece to something. its a basic starting point. then play a game with them and make one huge blunder, like giving up the queen or letting them ceckmate u. tat kind of encourages them. then make less bad mistakes and so on.

Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. The book is outstanding for beginners. It is visual. It starts with the basics like how pieces move, basic tactics and structure and then moves into combinations and more advanced tactics. It's a great little book for beginners. General club players won't really find anything in there to absorb, but this book can take a raw beginner and turn him into at least an 1100 player in no time.

http://www.amazon.com/Bobby-Fischer-Teaches-Chess/dp/0553263153

 Agreed, I loved that book as a kid. I'm still impressed at its teaching methods, I think the stuff I learned from that book stayed in my mind more vividly than any other chess material I have ever read and more than many other types of material.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice.

I ended up with five students today.  The word is out.

I showed them some of the basic checkmates, as gzthompson suggested.  In fact, I didn't actually show them.  I gave them the pieces in their hand and told them to place them on the board in checkmate.  They liked figuring this out.

Then I let them play around trying to get them on the board.  They loved this. Afterwards, they played each other for a while.  I think they're hooked.  

Only problem is, I'm gonna need more boards.

For two years I have been teaching kids (5-10 years old) for two years now, and I think you should give them some mate in ones on print, to make them understand checkmate 100%. When they understand the rules, try to teach them to get their pieces out in a hurry, and try to dominate the center and so.

Good luck! Feel free to message me if I can help with anything :)

http://www.chesskid.com/article/view/chesskidcoms-curriculum