Let your child teach YOU!
by Laura Sherman
www.YourChessCoach.com
Many children learn to play chess at home. You, the parent, teach them how to move their pieces, set up the board and begin play. Depending on your skill level these lessons may be rudimentary, but know they are invaluable. You have started him down an exciting path. Inevitably he will venture off and play others in school or perhaps even take lessons. As this happens expect him to come home one day and beat you. As he continues to learn and expand his knowledge those victories may become commonplace.
How you handle these losses will determine your child’s future in chess.
If you are upset in any way your child will probably give up playing chess rather than risk hurting you again. Count on that. If you are elated and proud, you will give him the greatest win of his life. Just try to stop him now!
When your child is trouncing you consistently, that is the time to allow him to teach you something about the game. Yes, it may involve swallowing your pride a little to allow your cute little nine-year-old child to show you the ropes of this ancient game, but you will actually be continuing his instruction in the best way possible. And he will in fact be able to help you improve your game.
When anyone is given the opportunity to teach someone else a skill, their ability improves in that area. Teaching is a powerful way to learn. Breaking down a subject so that someone else can grasp it involves a challenging process that brings about a greater understanding for the teacher. It is truly a way to master a subject.
Last month I put out a promotion offering our local parents a free 1-hour lesson in exchange for a coffee and a scone. It was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I hoped someone would take me up on it. When I received numerous enthusiastic replies I decided to extend the offer through the month of November.
I discovered that some parents were taught by their parents and some learned from a two-page instructional sheet they got from a recently purchased set. Needless to say there were some misconceptions and missing information, which were then passed down to our students. I’m sure you can imagine the confusion it created for the kids.
If you and your child disagree about a basic rule of chess, please, please, please write to me and ask for clarification. I don’t care if you are our student or not, I can help. I want to help. Write or call me anytime and ask, okay?
Here are two common misconceptions I uncovered:
(1) You can capture the king. NO! You never take the king off the board. Checkmate is the only way to win (unless your opponent gives up). Checkmate simply means the king is in danger and can’t get out of it by any means.
(2) A pawn can only be promoted to a piece that has been captured. NO! You can promote a pawn into anything but a king. You may have multiple queens on the board! Some sets provide you with 2 queens, but if yours doesn’t simply flip a captured rook over and voila you have a queen.
Congratulations on having a brilliant chess champ in your family! Their victories on the board will translate into life wins, which will carry forward into adulthood. Remember your child’s victories are in fact yours.
Thanks for this article.
I’ve got 2,5 year old son. I wanna ask what the best age to learn the child the rules of chess? I’ve heard that kid has to be at least 5 y.o.
Someday my son found my chess set and was very interested in it. He took chess pieces out and started to set them on the board and drove his cars among them. He was interested in shapes of pieces and someday I’ve taught him the names of the pieces. Now he always enjoys in taking them out and name them.
Hi! Our children are also 2 and 5! I believe that children can really learn at any age. It is up to them really. If they are interested, start at 2 years old. That’s what we did. My daughter is completely entranced with the game as we are always playing and teaching our 5 year old.
You were completely correct to start with the names of the pieces. Don’t worry about how they are moving them on the board or where they should be placed yet. Just get them touching the pieces, getting familiar with them. Driving cars among them works!
When they are ready for the next step start showing them how the rook and bishop move (they are the easiest to teach).
Feel free to write to me anytime if you’d like extra tips. I love to help others teach their kids!
Also check out our little video of our kids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIaW0jCNKMc
It shows our 2 year old getting the hang of the names of the pieces!
Laura
Thank you very much for the answer