“Only a Game”, oil on canvas, 34″ x 40″ by Lucie Bilodeau (www.luciebilodeau.com)

Dan and I taught two chess classes today, both free intro classes.  I love these beginning weeks when we can introduce new children to the game.

The key to teaching very young kids chess is to take your time with the basics of piece movement.  I start with the Rook.  When I first began teaching I experimented with the best order for introducing pieces to a new student.

It is tempting to start with the pawn, because it is the least powerful.  However there are so many parts to that little guy that it gets very confusing quickly.  I end with the pawn now.

After I go over the Rook, I make sure that they can move the piece around the board confidently before continuing on to the Bishop.  Once they have those two down I play a mini-game with them, allowing them to simply move both pieces around the board.

Today I had a class of nine 5 and 6 year olds.  Six of them were returning students and so we could pair them up.  Three were new to the game, so Dan took one and I took two.  They all three did very well.  At the end of the class they really wanted to continue lessons.  It will be fun to continue their chess education through the semester!

We had our first chess class of the year today.  First day back at school and the kids were eager to play.

One of our students invited a new student to join the class.  I asked him to teach his friend, since he was one of our advanced students.  I spent time with other students and watched him from time to time.  He did very well!

I was able to help teach him how to teach, while supervising his friend’s lessons.  There were a few times when I had to remind him not to teach complex concepts at this stage, but simply to go over how the pieces move and allow the new student to practice that.

It is a common error in teaching to race through the basics.  In chess a student will become disinterested quickly if you don’t give them the time to learn how the pieces move, give them time to really practice this.

In the end the student and his friend were both excited by the class.  They enjoyed learning together, each learning different lessons.

Chess develops a sense of teamwork amongst children.  After all they are the general in charge of 16 chess pieces, marshalling them all toward the enemy king’s defeat.

On the chess board, if you pick one piece to play with solely, you will discover the limits of that piece’s abilities.  Even the queen needs the other pieces to really do anything.

When you combine the forces of the chess pieces, you discover how well they work together.  For instance when you use rooks together, channeling their forces on the same rank or file (a row or column of a chess board), they are often a force to be reckoned with.

In life, teamwork is essential.  Even running a family is all about teamwork.  As a mom of three young children, I can attest that things don’t run well if there is no concept of the Sherman team.

Our children will use these skills again and again.  In school they will play sports, create science projects, conduct experiments and do all sorts of team activities.  Through chess they will see how the members work together, balancing their skills to accomplish goals.

If your child plays chess and can beat you, encourage them to teach you.  Teaching another is a powerful way to learn.  You must really know the subject in order to break it down to explain it to someone else.

Think of a time when you taught someone something.  Didn’t you learn something about the subject during the process?  You must look at (and understand fully) the basics of the subject.  It is hard not to become more expert yourself when you teach someone else.

Plus it is a huge confidence boost for any child to be able to teach an adult.  Children have accepted help for years, learning from you.  Being able switch roles for a moment, teaching the teacher, is huge.  It is an experience which stays with a child, throughout their lives.