@chess_is_9ay now that is a very profound thought, thank you.
@jabyvedar Thank you for the kind words.
Chess for Young Kids ( age 4-6)
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PastorJLM wrote:
@chess_is_9ay now that is a very profound thought, thank you.
@jabyvedar Thank you for the kind words.
i think chess_is_9ay is just a troll.
I learnt chess by watching my elder sister (9 years older than me) playing with my dad. Started playing in 5 years and within year surpassed both.
Then my aunt took me to district champion who took time to play 8 games with me and explained basic strategy.
Then my aunt took me to district champion who took time to play 8 games with me and explained basic strategy.
@thil003 wow, that is very nice. Unfortunately, spending time with any titled player will cost some money, quite a bit of it.
@OP So how is the tournament experience?
@jambyvedar sorry for the delay with the feedback of the tournament....
In a nutshell, my entire family got hit with a severe stomach bug, so my son and I could not compete in the majority of the games....
In other news, I have been letting my son spend some time on the ChessKid website (the kid version of chess.com), and ever since he started with the lessons on there, he has greatly improved. Today, as I was marking test of some of my students, my son was playing with an older player rated at around 1000, and he gave him a very challenging game. I was very impressed.
So, for those teaching kids of around 4-6, go check out Chesskid. From my personal experience, it has really proven to add value to my son's chess ability by doing one chess lesson a day and the 5 free tactics there.
PastorJLM wrote:
@jambyvedar sorry for the delay with the feedback of the tournament....
In a nutshell, my entire family got hit with a severe stomach bug, so my son and I could not compete in the majority of the games....
In other news, I have been letting my son spend some time on the ChessKid website (the kid version of chess.com), and ever since he started with the lessons on there, he has greatly improved. Today, as I was marking test of some of my students, my son was playing with an older player rated at around 1000, and he gave him a very challenging game. I was very impressed.
So, for those teaching kids of around 4-6, go check out Chesskid. From my personal experience, it has really proven to add value to my son's chess ability by doing one chess lesson a day and the 5 free tactics there.
sorry to hear that stomach bug. I hope you are all fine now. did he get nervous in his first tournament experience? what is his impression? can you kindly post the chesskid game against the 1000 rated player?
@jambyvedar - We are doing fine now thanks for asking.
He was not nervous at all, quite the opposite happened. He was excited, cool and calm. He became quite frustrated because many of his opponents took quite a long time to move, and this bored him. We ended the last game by purchasing Blue chess pieces for him, and a pink set for his 3 year old sister who also shows interest in playing chess.
Sadly, the 1000 rated player games was OTB, so it was not on Chesskid and I could not notate the game.
There is more tournamnets taking place soon and I am planning on registering him for those because it seems he is really into tournaments.
Will keep you guys posted on progress and some teaching techniques with this age group as I learn throughout this process.
An extended snippet of a game my son played last week against a 11 year old. My son (JJ) played black.
Recently, the only "coaching" that takes place is the once a week play time on Chesskid and then he plays weekly against friends at school older than him.
He is also playing in another tournament that is coming up around the corner. Hopefully, he will be able to play all games this time.
i like that your son is putting his pieces on good square.
Been a long time since I posted something.
Decided to get my son some coaching. He is playing at least twice a week and gets about 2 private coaching lessons a month.
I can proudly announce that my son has achieved his provincial colours in chess for the u/7 age group, which is still a year older than what he is.
He played in a local tournament over the weekend and received first place with 5 out 5 points in a round robin.
In conclusion, for the youngsters, playing a lot of chess, with a bit of guidance and advice from experienced players is all that is needed to have a few good games of chess. He enjoys every moment, and I am very proud of what he has achieved thus far.
Nice to hear that is making a progress and the most important part is he enjoy it. Getting a private coach is also a good decision. Keep is updated.
I’m 6
Magnus Trainer and Magnus Kingdom (by THE Magnus Carlsen) are fun, kid-friendly, and educational apps for any level of chess-playing. It takes a while, especially for someone so young to get interested in the game and want to improve. You can get a coach for your son to simply get him acclimated, but that’s expensive when there are so many free alternatives (e.g., chess.com subscription, school chess team—if there isn’t one, you can start one, videos online). HTH.
So my son has a coach twice a month, and he had some "coaching session" with one of our top players in the local club we belong to.
My son will be competing for his National Colours next week. We are very excited.
A small tips I find helpful with his chess journey:
...I play a lot of chess with him - father and son moment, very special
...chesskid.com has great education videos
...a coach is helpful, but not really necessary keeping in mind what our personal goals is
...he loves chess merchandise. So I reward him with "chess toys" which he loves.
@drummerz hey bud 
hope you enjoy playing some chess. Nice rating there by the way.
His current rating in South Africa is 781. He has just won gold at the South African Chess Open for his age group. According to Chessa, he is currently rated 18th in SA in the lowest age group for chess "u/7". Meaning he is 6 so he can still play under the same age group next year
I have just subscribed to Chesskid Gold for him. There are some very nice lesson etc on there. It has been encouraged by one of his coaches that he gets the subscription due to the high quality of educational content on there. I have heard first-hand feedback that it helps a great deal with chess development in kids
If you guys would like to, here is a link to the story I wrote about how chess started for my son when he was 4 years old..
https://www.chess.com/blog/PastorJLM/teaching-my-4-year-old-how-to-play-chess