Wouldn’t it be great to have a Chess Grandmaster in your family? If you have heard the story of the Hungarian teacher and educational psychologist Laszlo Polgar, you know that his three daughters became the most famous siblings and the best female players in the world of chess through his experiment. His determination and faith that “geniuses are made. not born” drive him towards the goal, however, that was not an easy journey. There was a lot of effort and adjustments made, so if also want to introduce chess to your kid, here are some tips.
When to begin?
There is no perfect timeline to learn chess, but typically, parents can introduce chess to their child early as five years old. Do not rush them to learn the game instantly, remember that gradual change is more effective than sudden ones. You can begin by introducing the board, each chess piece, and illustrations around the area where your child is playing. Consider your child’s maturity and make sure they can handle the game that involves winning and losing.
Ensure that chess is your child’s interest, so the game is going to be fun and not like a chore.
Encourage
Make playing chess a fun game! As a child, you wouldn’t want to play something if the environment was not encouraging enough, so if you’re planning to make your child play chess, make it fun and exciting. Winning is not the only thing that matters in every game, but the lessons from those mistakes can also make the game more exciting.
Have Patience
In our daily lives, patience is very important and it might be the key to achieve a happier life. Sometimes, we are learning slower than others, and that is okay. Beginners will learn chess according to their schedules and their ability, so do not expect to learn chess right away. Chess is like solving a puzzle, you have to be patient to figure things out.
Build a healthy environment
A healthy environment can increase self-confidence and higher productivity. At an early age, you can gradually expose your kid by introducing them to the popular chess players that will inspire them to also do good in it. The brain is a muscle that is getting stronger if you work out for it, so a good environment also increases your attention spans, improves your memory, and logical thinking.
Make an allotted time for chess
Building good habits is essential to boost productivity, so set aside a regular time to play chess each day to build that habits. The allotted time for chess will protect the time from other responsibilities and comply with it routinely.
Learn the basics
No one can learn a topic in just one snap, so to master chess, your child must need to learn the basics and introduced the concept and pieces. The key to successful learning is to don’t overload any beginner with any information that will cause them to burn out.
Read More
Reading about chess will develop your child’s reading skills and improve their reading comprehension. There are several articles on the internet today that can help you and your kid and may encourage them to improve their skills in chess. There are a lot of YouTube tutorials that can help a lot.
Practice
By doing what you love in a fun way, you learn every day and improve your decision-making skills in selecting the best move. the more practice you do, the better you will be in some areas. Practicing does not necessarily mean you have to master it, but repetition is the best form of knowledge.
Interpret the Board and Pieces
Explain and interpret the game easy as possible, your kid needs to know what are the chessboard and its pieces represent. Chess is a war on board. The board is the battleground and the pieces are the warriors which have different movement patterns. Also, you can mention the arrangement of each piece on the board.
The goal of playing chess
After introducing the basics, it is time to let them know what is the end goal when playing chess. you can establish a story that can help the child understand the game easily.
The basics of pawns
Start introducing the warriors from the basics, the pawn or the soldiers. Mention that the soldiers can only move one square at a time and it is the weakest one.
The takeover of horses
After introducing the pawns, it’s time for the horse-like piece, which is the knight. Unlike the pawns, the knights can jump over the pieces in an L-shaped pattern, and it is more valuable than pawns.
Introduce the bishops
After getting familiar with the knights, it is time for the bishops. The bishops can move diagonally as long as no piece is blocking its way.
Keep the rook in mind
To complete the armies, introduce the rook. The rook is placed in the corners of the board and can move horizontally and vertically.
Always keep the king safe
Make your kid understand the essence of chess by introducing the king, the one to be protected. Create a story where they can understand the term “check” and “checkmate”. Create scenarios where you can explain how they can capture the opponent’s king.
The Queen
The master of the game, the queen. Introduce the most powerful piece in the game, that has the special abilities to move in any direction. Help your child figure out the best way to use the Queen and be a master of his own game.
Final word
There countless reasons why you should involve your child in chess such as developing perspective improves memory, increases your child’s intelligence, deepens focus, boosts creativity, develops planning skills, improve self-awareness, and protects them from mental illnesses. Despite all that, one thing that a parent should consider is their child having fun playing the game. The more they are enjoying, the more chances they want to be involved, and all the good benefits from playing chess will follow.