How to teach a child to play chess?

In one of my articles I told how to teach a kid from scratch the basics of chess. But mastering the rules of chess is only the beginning of a long journey.

If the child already knows how the pieces go, is interested in chess, and your knowledge is not enough - it is better to entrust the training to professionals. From about 4 years old, it can be recorded in a chess club - it can be located in the near House of Children's Art, in a chess club, or even at school. There he will be able to play in tournaments and even get a rank.

Even if you recorded your child in the chess section, do not forget about classes at home.

At this age, the baby is still hard to master a large chessboard. Therefore, you can independently make or draw a battlefield for kids. The cells of this board should be large, they should be much smaller than on a regular board.

At the age of 4, the child is an independent person. At this age, you can teach him the real rules of chess, but it is better to do it in a game form, not to push and force to play by force. He is still unable to hold attention for a long time, so classes should be short, not more than half an hour. You can show an interesting cartoon on this topic or tell a fabulous story about chess pieces.

Look with the baby cartoon with Fixies.

Young children are well included in the exercise physical training, somehow related to the game - for example, squats with your favorite chess piece in the palm of your hand.

At this age, parents most often lead children to chess sections. The child is ready to master the game of chess in full. After learning the basic laws of chess, you need to start learning to make moves “correctly”, that is, to make strong moves - to put the pieces in the center of the board, to attack, to defend when attacking.

But the five-year-old kid is still small, so do not forget about the children's teaching methods - teaching tales, funny poems that help remember the rules.

Master the science of chess to the full - solve problems, train the best tactics (for example, fork, bundle and others), tell interesting facts about chess. You will have to learn how to play hard yourself - many children at this age are already serious rivals.

Recommended sequence of classes with the child.

The first lesson is better to devote to the story of the origin of chess - a chess legend, adapted to the age of the student.

Then devote one lesson to each figure.Disassemble in detail how they walk and "eat up" enemies. Try to present all this in an interesting form.

For example, you can tell a fairy tale about a pawn that managed to overcome all difficulties and became a queen. Or dress up some figure, make her a house on the board, hunt for her.

To consolidate the knowledge of the figures, play the game:

• "Magic bag" (let the child determine by touch which figure he pulled out);
• “What is common?” (Two figures need to be compared - how are they similar and how are they different, for example, color, top part and another).

In the next lesson, learn the correct placement of figures and do not forget to repeat it. If the child finds it difficult to place the figures in the next lesson, you can do it with clues and help him. Then explain the rules of the game, the concept of check, mate, a strong move.

Play the first game. Until then, you can play with a limited number of pieces - those whose moves you have already learned.

A child of preschool and school age You need to explain the basics of the strategy that every chess player should know:

• Always think about protecting your king. If he falls into the trap, the game will end. Therefore, even attacking the opponent's pieces, take care of the security of your main piece. For example, make a castle and hide it in a corner of the board.
• Do not “yawn” figures - do not give them away just like that.

Each figure has a certain price, which you need to tell the child:

• A pawn is worth 1 point;
• Horse and elephant - by 3 points;
• Rook - 5 points;
• Queen - 9 points;

The king is priceless, because if he is mate, the game ends.

• Control the center of the board. The figures in the center are stronger than those on the outskirts. They have more space - options for moves and attacks. Therefore, it is desirable to “seize” the center — to place there, for example, pawns and knights who cannot walk long distances. And long-range figures - elephants, rooks, queen - you can keep him under control from afar, attacking the central fields.
• Use all chess pieces in the game. If some of them "rest", staying in their original places, you may not have enough strength to attack. All troops must participate in the game, in this case, the victory will not take long.

The child needs to explain the rules of chess tournaments, and use them at home. A very important rule - “touched - go,” “took - take” - if you touch a piece, you need to make a move on it. If this is an enemy figure, you need to eat it, if such a move is possible.

In addition, tournaments are always held with special chess clocks, on which any control can be established. If time runs out, you lose. Get a watch and sometimes play at home with them.

• Do not strive to always win the baby - so he can get upset and quickly lose interest in the game, sometimes you can make a draw in a draw or even lose.
• Do not lose often - the child will get used to winning constantly and it will be painful to lose. You can give a small head start - the figure, so that the game was equal.
• The analysis of mistakes after the game is useful - which moves are good and which ones are not very good.
• Play with your child as often as possible, and he will become a strong contender.
• Praise him even for small achievements - he found a strong move, managed to make a draw, decided a puzzle.

Do not demand from the child to immediately become a champion.

The benefits of chess and the influence on development cannot be overestimated - they perfectly develop logic and abstract thinking, they teach assiduity and perseverance in achieving goals. Therefore, even if the child does not become a strong chess player, the game will certainly help him learn better. For example, many chess players are good mathematicians, because the algorithm for solving mathematical and chess problems is very similar.

Many parents wonder how to interest the child in chess, if he does not express a particular desire to play them? There can be no exact instructions. You can buy big and beautiful chessboard (the smaller the child, the more the figure), together with the baby consider the figure. Tell them that they are all - an army, where pawns are soldiers.

If you are already familiar with the basics of chess, you can play cool chess educational games suitable for 2 children. For example, the game of extermination of pawns. Only pawns are put on the board, and the opponents play only with them. To win, you must eat all the pawns of the opponent.

You can take the baton - who quickly and correctly place the figures. You can sew, draw, blind chess troops, come up with other tasks.

If after all your tricks the child is not interested in the game, it is better to return to it in a few months.

No need to force to play, the harm from this will be more than good.

Fixiki tips on how to play chess, see the next video.