Jump to content

Menu

Teaching Chess


Recommended Posts

I'd like to begin playing chess with my girls. They know the basics of how the pieces move around the board. But we have two challenges to progressing from there:

 

1. I know nothing about the strategy of how to play. Can anyone recommend any resources for me to learn and understand strategies?

 

2. My girls get annoyed if someone (e.g. their grandfather) tries to explain strategies to them. They just want to play. Are there any games that we can play (other than a full chess game) that would allow them to discover strategies for themselves as they play? For example, I saw someone suggest chocolate chip chess, where you place only the knights on the board and chocolate chips on the remaining squares - kids can eat the chips if they can capture them. Are there any books or resources that suggest more games like this?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

chess.com is a great online source that is free and worldwide. There are all sorts of training options as well as live games and more. My kids use it for their chess team (and for fun). Their team won their division in the state tournament last year.

 

If you want to contact someone to show you around the site, see if you can send a message to SJPDNA (on chess.com). He's my middle son and he loves helping with chess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We started with No Stress Chess too. That is really good for mastering the moves and also to "even up" uneven opponents in early learning play.

 

Then my son joined chesskid.com. I think it's the "kid" side of chess.com so there are some privacy/safety features and lots of kids to play. There are a wide variety of skill levels. You can play the computer too. The CurrClick website has a chess club for homeschoolers that is hosted on chesskid. It's free but you add into your cart and sign up through currclick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I will be checking out the resources everyone suggested.

 

I wanted to report that Chocolate Chip Chess (which we changed to Candy Corn Chess) was a big hit! I started the girls off with two knights each, and candy corn on all the extra spaces. The next night they wanted to try again, but with only one knight each to make it harder. They have a whole series of variations planned to keep making it more of a challenge. Exactly the type of thinking I wanted to encourage!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to begin playing chess with my girls. They know the basics of how the pieces move around the board. But we have two challenges to progressing from there:

 

1. I know nothing about the strategy of how to play. Can anyone recommend any resources for me to learn and understand strategies?

 

2. My girls get annoyed if someone (e.g. their grandfather) tries to explain strategies to them. They just want to play. Are there any games that we can play (other than a full chess game) that would allow them to discover strategies for themselves as they play? For example, I saw someone suggest chocolate chip chess, where you place only the knights on the board and chocolate chips on the remaining squares - kids can eat the chips if they can capture them. Are there any books or resources that suggest more games like this?

 

Thanks!

 

I would recommend a book on chess puzzles for children. I have seen several over the years. A search for "chess puzzles children" turned up several on Amazon. These usually set up two pieces in a scenario and then ask for the best next move. Pretty simple, but a good way to teach strategy. My public library has the Usborne one.

 

Blessings,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...