Help with chess for young kids

[Mama Geek]

Dh taught dd how to play chess two or three pieces at a time last summer.  He has played a lot but not in tournaments mostly with friends in college and occasionally since then.  She has played lots of games with him and has even beat him once last summer.  We bought her the book how to beat your dad at chess which has a lot of scenarios of how to put someone in checkmate.  Dh is going ahead of us to a job and she and I will have more than a month to work on these.  I can read the book and figure out the scenarios and what to do but I am looking for suggestions of how to work with her on it.  We took the first 3 scenarios today and worked through them a few times and I figure we will do the same for the next few days.  I am going to work with her instead of dh is hopes that she will learn some things that he doesn't know and be better able to win a few games against him.

 

She will have opportunity to play with my brother in the next month as well who is pretty good.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Mama Geek

[PeterPan]

Have you gotten an app or software?  It sounds like she's beyond the Solitaire Chess game my ds has been enjoying. I was just trying to find my Fritz and Chesster games.  Don't know where I put them.  Dd loved them and I think ds is ready.  If she's beyond that, then apps, definitely.  But I'm guessing she'd like Fritz and Chesster.

[Sally Day]

My 8yo loves ChessKid.

[Black-eyed Suzan]

Sounds like you are on the right track. My boys checked a bunch of chess books out of the library, reading them and setting up the scenarios on a magnetic board. We also let them have limited time on a chess app that has different levels.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Black-eyed Suzan

[sbgrace]

My son played a lot on ChessKid when he was first learning.

 

I think you learn best by playing. Well, I do anyway.

[Tranquility7]

ChessKid is great, esp with the gold membership that lets you watch tons of wonderful instructional videos and access to loads of puzzles and such. And gold membership is half off if you buy through Homeschool Buyers Co-op! Plus you can play real games with real people (either strangers or only those whom you know irl, up to you), either in real time (fast chess) or the regular way, where you make a move and then wait for the other person to login and make a move.

 

DS loves ChessKid and learned a ton from it!

 

 

[Alessandra]

Five is a great age to start chess. It has been a while since Ds was a beginner, but I remember how helpful the Fritz and Chesster software was, ChessKid too.

 

You can find out if there are tournaments near you. Some tournaments for young beginners don't even expect players to know how all the pieces work. Here are some listings:

 

http://www.uschess.org/content/blogsection/18/95/

 

But also Google uscf msa and click to find out what tournaments have been played recently in your area. Some places have dozens of tournaments to choose from each weekend, while others have tournaments infrequently. Also, there is a growing movement to draw girls into chess, with special tournaments and girls only camps. I know some very competitive girls, among the best in the country who play in open tournaments and internationally, but who also love the girls tournaments and the friends they make there.

 

Good luck.

 

Oh, you might like the movie, Searching for Bobby Fisher.

[purduemeche]

We are also fans of chesskid and Solitaire Chess.

 

If you're willing to pick up some curriculum, the Championship Chess material is excellent. Based on where you are, you may be able to start in Book 2 (Chess Openings).

 

 

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