Chess experience

Chess is one of the most famous strategy games on our planet, it has an old history. Many people find it extremely interesting. Our son finds it interesting too. Here is his experience.

It’s never too early for a child to learn how to play chess. Our son first learned how to move chess pieces at the age of 5.

When it became less interesting to play chess only with dad at home, I advised my son to visit a chess club. At that time he was the smallest pupil there.

There was 2 years before going to school. Since Egor didn’t attend kindergarten, he had a lot of free time, most of which he spent playing chess. The chess club was for kids from the age of 7, but the teacher agreed to teach him when he checked his playing skills.

Time of class was unlimited, but the teacher offered Egor to attend classes 3 times a week for 45 minutes so that he wouldn’t get tired. But Egor asked me to take him to classes almost every day. And he stayed there for 1,5 -2 hours at his will. He really enjoyed chess!

Of course we were glad that our son had such an interesting hobby.

It’s important to know that your child can develop 8 critical thinking skills by playing chess on a regular basis:

1. Problem solving. Chess is quite similar to a large puzzle. Kids who like to play chess can significantly improve their problem-solving abilities.
2. Abstract reasoning. Chess invites kids to practice abstract reasoning through "if, then..." scenarios.
3. Calmness under pressure. Kids learn to stay calm while thinking through possible moves. It gives them a great skill while under pressure in a real-life scenarios.
4. Patience. The average game of chess goes on for about 40 moves and can last 20 minutes or several hours. Each of these moves must be carefully calculated and planned.
5. Sportsmanship. Despite this point is often disputed by parents nowadays, I totally agree that this skill will help kids to overcome loss or failure later on in life.
6. Creative thinking. While playing chess kids need to imagine what will happen with each possible move on the board and then quickly come up with new strategies.
7. Pattern recognition. Kids also learn to recognize the potential consequences of each available move and making the right decision on how each piece is placed on the chessboard.
8. Strategic thinking. Kids learn to combine problem solving, pattern recognition and creative thinking at the same time. They learn how to develop and execute a strategy.

Egor began to participate in competitions half a year after the chess classes have started. There were victories and awards. He really enjoyed this time.

Egor started school this year. He has less free time, so he decided to take a break in playing chess. We respect his decision. As soon as he wants to play chess again, we will definitely support him and help him.

My advice would be to tell your child about this game, show how the pieces go, you can just play chess at home in the evenings. If your child is interested in chess, it’ll be a great experience and a good way to develop the brain.

But remember that you can advice, yes, encourage, certainly, but you cannot insist. Otherwise it’ll be opposite effect.