A dozen tips - how to teach a child chess. And not only
Introduction for a series of articles - "How to teach your child chess."
Some time ago I wrote the article “Fear of chess imposed on you” . Some people who are interested in Habrahabs have asked for more details about the method by which I teach children chess. Well, actually - the time has come.
This text serves as a kind of introduction for the next cycle of articles. In it I will describe the features that you will encounter when loading chess knowledge into the child’s brain.
Immediately make a reservation - this material is intended for parents who want to teach a child to think independently and make logical conclusions in the most optimal way. In the comments, I will not discuss the calls to teach the child logic with the help of card games, shooters and other garbage that spoils children's brains. If you want to spoil a child, it’s your right, but I wouldn’t advise people who want to make a more or less adequate person out of their offspring. All the rest - you are welcome.
')
The course in which I teach children chess, developed by Igor Georgievich Sukhin and is called "Chess - school." More information about the author you can find on the site . Please worried geeks not to criticize the site - a person for many years and he does everything himself. Over time, I only once again make sure that everything that is described in the course is tested, weighed, edited and laid out for use.
I started teaching chess more than 4 years ago. It turned out well that almost immediately ran into the course of I.G. Sukhina when choosing a training program for his son (and his 1st grade). Over the past 4 years, I have filled a lot of cones on the thorny path of teaching children chess. And to be more precise - preparing them for life. At the moment, I teach chess at the Center for Children's Creativity, and the number of children only reaches 70 people there (classes 2 times a week), plus there are a couple of paid circles. The total number of children is currently only about 100 people. I think that I can judge professionally enough about the quality of the knowledge obtained by children, and also direct other parents to the “true path”. If you do not like my advice - you can teach differently. But believe me - the speed of obtaining knowledge is not the most important thing, it is important that the brain of the child should consider and accept the knowledge that you will give him. All my advice is based on personal experience and observations on a fairly large cut of the children being taught.
If you want to grow a champion, then this course is not for you. But if you have a desire to put a lot of other functionality into the child's operating system - then I couldn’t find something more convenient and better, for example. All you need is patience. The children's brain is a sponge that absorbs knowledge in sufficiently large volumes, but if you give this knowledge in the wrong order, either as a form, you will either slow down the learning, or you will not get the result you want.
Therefore, first determine your goals - what you want to get at the exit. What I will describe in my articles is the gradual loading and compilation of knowledge for subsequent use in the life course of your (or not only your, why - see below) child. Along the way, with the study of chess, you will notice that the child gains some additional knowledge and skills that, it would seem, have a indirect relationship to chess.
And now we got to the tips, what and how to give to children.
Tip 1. Yes, it is children. The best options would be to study at least two children. I noticed an interesting feature - if more than one child is involved, then knowledge is assimilated faster and more qualitatively. In addition, you can (later) put the children to play together. In addition, by working only with your child, you will certainly make more contact with him (if you need this - then work only with one child), but at the same time teaching two children at once (for example) - you will also increase your authority in the eyes of children. Do not take a large number of children either - it is difficult. Optimally 2-3 children to start. I now teach in groups of up to 18 people - this is tin. Even though I remember all the tasks by heart, it is very difficult to pay attention to all and send the children.
Tip 2. Each child should have its own board. And he should do the tasks only on her. Do not climb on the board of a neighbor, do not talk, do not prompt (this makes it worse for someone who prompts). It is clear that I want to boast, to show how clever I am here. But you have to learn to control yourself. It is difficult to regulate this desire. It may take up to a year to fix it.
Tip 3. The age of studying chess, in principle, can be any, but the optimal age is from 6 to 12. Is it possible to retreat from these borders? Yes, it is possible. But not too much. If you are wondering why - read any material on age psychology, it will be immediately clear. If there are more children than one, try to keep your age more or less close, the gap is no more than 2-3 years. A 6 year old child studies some things more slowly than a 9 year old child. Keep this in mind when selecting a group, even for me with my experience and knowledge of chess, it is difficult to maintain an interest in younger children if there is an older child in the group. A couple of times it ended pitifully, alas - the children threw chess.
Tip 4. All classes should be conducted on the boards. And only on the boards. No computers and other things. I am not a scientist, I will leave evidence to them, but I noticed that the digestibility of the material obtained by the movement of pieces on the board is several times better than from the computer / tablet screen. For training, you can use any chess, but the optimal size is so that the entire board cannot be covered at once with a glance. At the same time, too big a board is also inconvenient for small children, although for the rest I think the size of 43x43 with figures with a king height of 77 mm is quite suitable. I immediately write dimensions with AliExpress, where such a set costs from 700 rubles (but you can find it cheaper). 50x50 boards for me are so a bit large for training, although all competitions are held on such boards.
Why you should not immediately buy expensive inventory - and then what will you give your child a beautiful one? But the most important result from the big board is due to biological laziness, in order not to twist his head, the student will try to involuntarily memorize the position of the pieces on the board.
Tip 5. Work on the course must be clearly, exactly in the form in which the material is supplied. Any deviation from the program I always taunted. Yes - you can say something extra, but most of the questions the child will not understand you. Each session / exercise has its own purpose. And the presentation of the material is given in a clear structure and cyclically. And at the exit in a year or two, you will receive a structural and consistent thinking of the child. Exactly so - structural and after a year minimum. Do not drive, do not need everything at once. Children need to think about the information, let it ripen in the head. The problem of the current generation is precisely the abundance of information. Do not try to add there yet - a nervous child is not our goal.
Tip 6. When placing figures, in no case should you use chess notation (!!!). You do not teach the child to read, but to think and navigate. I did not immediately understand this either, but now all children (and I explain to my parents too) are disaccustomed to orientation by letters and numbers at the initial stage. I keep even a few boards without designations for especially hardcore ones. When they need to - they will learn the notation quickly, it does not take much time.
Your goal is to teach your child spatial orientation, perception of the job image as a whole, and not in parts. In addition, it is easier to arrange any task by holding the whole diagram in your mind. And this skill is acquired fairly quickly. The main thing here is not to drive the child, not to forbid him to look at the sheet / problem book that lies next to the board. After 1-2 months, children remembering a chart are usually set faster and faster than those who try to memorize letters / numbers. Teach to be guided by the colors of the cells and the inner sense of irregular position.
Tip 7. Arrange the figure the child himself. And only myself. No concessions (exception, see below about fatigue). If you play with a child - let him put both sets of pieces. You are a teacher - your task is to give knowledge, not to put figures. In case of your loss, you can stimulate the child to the placement - the one who lost sets up. But in the case of tasks, let him set the task himself. You can help a little, but no more. Do not believe how quickly the children will then arrange the figures.
Tip 8. Shapes need to move. Hands, not eyes. It is also quite a difficult moment - some children (even the majority) are afraid to move the piece and move it to another place on the board. You will never achieve right away that the child thinks even 2 moves ahead - it is difficult for him. But if he moves the figures, then this quality will develop itself in 3-4-5 months (remember that it is not necessary to drive, this ability is not given simply and easily). In addition, in the tasks, when the opponent’s pieces are walking, the children try to find the very best move that suits them, and not the smartest move for the opponent. They usually justify it - what if it goes like that. It is difficult to explain that only the enemy of the near mind will go like this. So just offer to consider the option of smart move.
I always scold (recently quite tough) children for trying to find a solution with their eyes on the diagram given to them. The sense of this is 0.00001. Children who do this - then do not see their own figures when they fall into a more serious situation (for example, at a tournament with the greatest psychological pressure). The decision of the eyes does not help in thinking, the figures in the game are lost. If you work the solution manually, then everything starts moving in your head. So watch out - as the child decides.
Tip 9. Do not let the children play until they pass all the pieces. Even if they know how to play and want. Firstly, they will have an incentive to learn, secondly, all the same, they do not see the board and will not see for a long time. Plus, not all children love to lose, and it is not always possible to take a child out of a psychological peak, which he leaves after one or two losses. Sometimes it is recommended not to participate in tournaments for children under 10 years old, and I almost completely agree with this point of view, because it is quite difficult (sometimes unrealistic sometimes) to return a child to training after a lost tournament, but here everyone is his own master. I prepare children for any tournament to the point that they can lose, but this is easier for me because of experience and full contact with children. That is why it is necessary to establish contact to the tournament, but it takes just six months, no less.
And, probably you will not believe it - but children love to solve problems that have a solution, but rather complicated. Girls and boys come to me - and everyone is delighted. I attribute this to the fact that they are tense, but they see that there is a result. After all, all tasks have a solution, and not always simple.
Tip 10. Always keep track of what is being done and prompt the child only if you see that he is sitting above the same task for a long time. I always try to prompt the child to get something. For example, there are situations when a child is tired (after tasks completed before that, sitting down with an already tired student and doing tasks is a mockery), then I teach children the usual sorting of moves. Also a good skill, but it must be submitted so that consistency is used. For example, a queen move can be sorted by walking first along one line, then along another, and so on. By the way, if you are showing a brute force solution, try to make the answer one of the most recent options. In more detail I will dwell on the key tasks for me and give them as an example - what is the problem for children in solving these tasks.
Tip 11. Again to fatigue and perseverance. There are children who cannot finish the lesson (I usually include 12 tasks in the lesson, as practice has shown, this is the best option for the first year of study. The exception is horse lessons. It happens that children hang longer and have to look at the child). If the child says that he is tired and will not do more - do at least one or two more tasks with him. You can arrange the figures for it to facilitate (as an exception, voicing it. The child will appreciate it - believe me), but so that the child participates in the process (for example, specially put the figure in the wrong place and ask him to check). Usually, even the most "tired" children go to 12 tasks in 2-3 weeks at most.
Tip 12. Began to engage - do not quit. Take time to educate the child. Irregular classes - the biggest scourge of learning. At the same time - do not overstrain. Ill - transfer classes until the child feels better. Loading at school - transfer for a day or two, but no more. Gradually, everything will even out, and classes will be more regular even in case of overload at school.
If you follow these tips, then a child of 6-8 years old will play with you in 4-5 months, 9-12 years old - in 3-4 months. A shorter course of study is poor digestibility. Before these terms do not try to play, it is not necessary.
If you want to play with the child and with the chess clock - buy them. The model of hours officially allowed for chess competitions is DGT-2010, but they cost 5,000 rubles in Russia. Almost complete analog on AliExpress - PQ9903A. The cost of these hours is 1500 rubles with delivery. For the home - enough. All cheaper models are not the most comfortable. Either in use or in functions. Anticipating the topic - “I will put the program on my smartphone” I will answer - if you don’t feel sorry for the smartphone, put it. You should have seen how children beat the clock in the heat - they would not say that.
For those who have read my previous article about what they want to implement in schools, the primary school teacher cannot simply follow these tips. The class is too large, the teacher himself is afraid of chess (in most cases), the course is illogical and inconsistent, a lot of actual pedagogical errors in the material supplied. The result of the introduction of the course to school will be deplorable.
Well, in the future I will write how to give and in what order the figures. How to teach children chess in the future. I will describe the types of tasks, how to perform them with examples. I hope you and your child will find these tips helpful. But the main thing to remember - do not try to embody your ambitions in a child. Teach him to live and think, this will be the best use of chess.
If you have read everything carefully then you are welcome to continue - We are exploring the rook (Part 1)
Some time ago I wrote the article “Fear of chess imposed on you” . Some people who are interested in Habrahabs have asked for more details about the method by which I teach children chess. Well, actually - the time has come.
This text serves as a kind of introduction for the next cycle of articles. In it I will describe the features that you will encounter when loading chess knowledge into the child’s brain.
Immediately make a reservation - this material is intended for parents who want to teach a child to think independently and make logical conclusions in the most optimal way. In the comments, I will not discuss the calls to teach the child logic with the help of card games, shooters and other garbage that spoils children's brains. If you want to spoil a child, it’s your right, but I wouldn’t advise people who want to make a more or less adequate person out of their offspring. All the rest - you are welcome.
')
The course in which I teach children chess, developed by Igor Georgievich Sukhin and is called "Chess - school." More information about the author you can find on the site . Please worried geeks not to criticize the site - a person for many years and he does everything himself. Over time, I only once again make sure that everything that is described in the course is tested, weighed, edited and laid out for use.
I started teaching chess more than 4 years ago. It turned out well that almost immediately ran into the course of I.G. Sukhina when choosing a training program for his son (and his 1st grade). Over the past 4 years, I have filled a lot of cones on the thorny path of teaching children chess. And to be more precise - preparing them for life. At the moment, I teach chess at the Center for Children's Creativity, and the number of children only reaches 70 people there (classes 2 times a week), plus there are a couple of paid circles. The total number of children is currently only about 100 people. I think that I can judge professionally enough about the quality of the knowledge obtained by children, and also direct other parents to the “true path”. If you do not like my advice - you can teach differently. But believe me - the speed of obtaining knowledge is not the most important thing, it is important that the brain of the child should consider and accept the knowledge that you will give him. All my advice is based on personal experience and observations on a fairly large cut of the children being taught.
If you want to grow a champion, then this course is not for you. But if you have a desire to put a lot of other functionality into the child's operating system - then I couldn’t find something more convenient and better, for example. All you need is patience. The children's brain is a sponge that absorbs knowledge in sufficiently large volumes, but if you give this knowledge in the wrong order, either as a form, you will either slow down the learning, or you will not get the result you want.
Therefore, first determine your goals - what you want to get at the exit. What I will describe in my articles is the gradual loading and compilation of knowledge for subsequent use in the life course of your (or not only your, why - see below) child. Along the way, with the study of chess, you will notice that the child gains some additional knowledge and skills that, it would seem, have a indirect relationship to chess.
And now we got to the tips, what and how to give to children.
Tip 1. Yes, it is children. The best options would be to study at least two children. I noticed an interesting feature - if more than one child is involved, then knowledge is assimilated faster and more qualitatively. In addition, you can (later) put the children to play together. In addition, by working only with your child, you will certainly make more contact with him (if you need this - then work only with one child), but at the same time teaching two children at once (for example) - you will also increase your authority in the eyes of children. Do not take a large number of children either - it is difficult. Optimally 2-3 children to start. I now teach in groups of up to 18 people - this is tin. Even though I remember all the tasks by heart, it is very difficult to pay attention to all and send the children.
Tip 2. Each child should have its own board. And he should do the tasks only on her. Do not climb on the board of a neighbor, do not talk, do not prompt (this makes it worse for someone who prompts). It is clear that I want to boast, to show how clever I am here. But you have to learn to control yourself. It is difficult to regulate this desire. It may take up to a year to fix it.
Tip 3. The age of studying chess, in principle, can be any, but the optimal age is from 6 to 12. Is it possible to retreat from these borders? Yes, it is possible. But not too much. If you are wondering why - read any material on age psychology, it will be immediately clear. If there are more children than one, try to keep your age more or less close, the gap is no more than 2-3 years. A 6 year old child studies some things more slowly than a 9 year old child. Keep this in mind when selecting a group, even for me with my experience and knowledge of chess, it is difficult to maintain an interest in younger children if there is an older child in the group. A couple of times it ended pitifully, alas - the children threw chess.
Tip 4. All classes should be conducted on the boards. And only on the boards. No computers and other things. I am not a scientist, I will leave evidence to them, but I noticed that the digestibility of the material obtained by the movement of pieces on the board is several times better than from the computer / tablet screen. For training, you can use any chess, but the optimal size is so that the entire board cannot be covered at once with a glance. At the same time, too big a board is also inconvenient for small children, although for the rest I think the size of 43x43 with figures with a king height of 77 mm is quite suitable. I immediately write dimensions with AliExpress, where such a set costs from 700 rubles (but you can find it cheaper). 50x50 boards for me are so a bit large for training, although all competitions are held on such boards.
Why you should not immediately buy expensive inventory - and then what will you give your child a beautiful one? But the most important result from the big board is due to biological laziness, in order not to twist his head, the student will try to involuntarily memorize the position of the pieces on the board.
Tip 5. Work on the course must be clearly, exactly in the form in which the material is supplied. Any deviation from the program I always taunted. Yes - you can say something extra, but most of the questions the child will not understand you. Each session / exercise has its own purpose. And the presentation of the material is given in a clear structure and cyclically. And at the exit in a year or two, you will receive a structural and consistent thinking of the child. Exactly so - structural and after a year minimum. Do not drive, do not need everything at once. Children need to think about the information, let it ripen in the head. The problem of the current generation is precisely the abundance of information. Do not try to add there yet - a nervous child is not our goal.
Tip 6. When placing figures, in no case should you use chess notation (!!!). You do not teach the child to read, but to think and navigate. I did not immediately understand this either, but now all children (and I explain to my parents too) are disaccustomed to orientation by letters and numbers at the initial stage. I keep even a few boards without designations for especially hardcore ones. When they need to - they will learn the notation quickly, it does not take much time.
Your goal is to teach your child spatial orientation, perception of the job image as a whole, and not in parts. In addition, it is easier to arrange any task by holding the whole diagram in your mind. And this skill is acquired fairly quickly. The main thing here is not to drive the child, not to forbid him to look at the sheet / problem book that lies next to the board. After 1-2 months, children remembering a chart are usually set faster and faster than those who try to memorize letters / numbers. Teach to be guided by the colors of the cells and the inner sense of irregular position.
Tip 7. Arrange the figure the child himself. And only myself. No concessions (exception, see below about fatigue). If you play with a child - let him put both sets of pieces. You are a teacher - your task is to give knowledge, not to put figures. In case of your loss, you can stimulate the child to the placement - the one who lost sets up. But in the case of tasks, let him set the task himself. You can help a little, but no more. Do not believe how quickly the children will then arrange the figures.
Tip 8. Shapes need to move. Hands, not eyes. It is also quite a difficult moment - some children (even the majority) are afraid to move the piece and move it to another place on the board. You will never achieve right away that the child thinks even 2 moves ahead - it is difficult for him. But if he moves the figures, then this quality will develop itself in 3-4-5 months (remember that it is not necessary to drive, this ability is not given simply and easily). In addition, in the tasks, when the opponent’s pieces are walking, the children try to find the very best move that suits them, and not the smartest move for the opponent. They usually justify it - what if it goes like that. It is difficult to explain that only the enemy of the near mind will go like this. So just offer to consider the option of smart move.
I always scold (recently quite tough) children for trying to find a solution with their eyes on the diagram given to them. The sense of this is 0.00001. Children who do this - then do not see their own figures when they fall into a more serious situation (for example, at a tournament with the greatest psychological pressure). The decision of the eyes does not help in thinking, the figures in the game are lost. If you work the solution manually, then everything starts moving in your head. So watch out - as the child decides.
Tip 9. Do not let the children play until they pass all the pieces. Even if they know how to play and want. Firstly, they will have an incentive to learn, secondly, all the same, they do not see the board and will not see for a long time. Plus, not all children love to lose, and it is not always possible to take a child out of a psychological peak, which he leaves after one or two losses. Sometimes it is recommended not to participate in tournaments for children under 10 years old, and I almost completely agree with this point of view, because it is quite difficult (sometimes unrealistic sometimes) to return a child to training after a lost tournament, but here everyone is his own master. I prepare children for any tournament to the point that they can lose, but this is easier for me because of experience and full contact with children. That is why it is necessary to establish contact to the tournament, but it takes just six months, no less.
And, probably you will not believe it - but children love to solve problems that have a solution, but rather complicated. Girls and boys come to me - and everyone is delighted. I attribute this to the fact that they are tense, but they see that there is a result. After all, all tasks have a solution, and not always simple.
Tip 10. Always keep track of what is being done and prompt the child only if you see that he is sitting above the same task for a long time. I always try to prompt the child to get something. For example, there are situations when a child is tired (after tasks completed before that, sitting down with an already tired student and doing tasks is a mockery), then I teach children the usual sorting of moves. Also a good skill, but it must be submitted so that consistency is used. For example, a queen move can be sorted by walking first along one line, then along another, and so on. By the way, if you are showing a brute force solution, try to make the answer one of the most recent options. In more detail I will dwell on the key tasks for me and give them as an example - what is the problem for children in solving these tasks.
Tip 11. Again to fatigue and perseverance. There are children who cannot finish the lesson (I usually include 12 tasks in the lesson, as practice has shown, this is the best option for the first year of study. The exception is horse lessons. It happens that children hang longer and have to look at the child). If the child says that he is tired and will not do more - do at least one or two more tasks with him. You can arrange the figures for it to facilitate (as an exception, voicing it. The child will appreciate it - believe me), but so that the child participates in the process (for example, specially put the figure in the wrong place and ask him to check). Usually, even the most "tired" children go to 12 tasks in 2-3 weeks at most.
Tip 12. Began to engage - do not quit. Take time to educate the child. Irregular classes - the biggest scourge of learning. At the same time - do not overstrain. Ill - transfer classes until the child feels better. Loading at school - transfer for a day or two, but no more. Gradually, everything will even out, and classes will be more regular even in case of overload at school.
If you follow these tips, then a child of 6-8 years old will play with you in 4-5 months, 9-12 years old - in 3-4 months. A shorter course of study is poor digestibility. Before these terms do not try to play, it is not necessary.
If you want to play with the child and with the chess clock - buy them. The model of hours officially allowed for chess competitions is DGT-2010, but they cost 5,000 rubles in Russia. Almost complete analog on AliExpress - PQ9903A. The cost of these hours is 1500 rubles with delivery. For the home - enough. All cheaper models are not the most comfortable. Either in use or in functions. Anticipating the topic - “I will put the program on my smartphone” I will answer - if you don’t feel sorry for the smartphone, put it. You should have seen how children beat the clock in the heat - they would not say that.
For those who have read my previous article about what they want to implement in schools, the primary school teacher cannot simply follow these tips. The class is too large, the teacher himself is afraid of chess (in most cases), the course is illogical and inconsistent, a lot of actual pedagogical errors in the material supplied. The result of the introduction of the course to school will be deplorable.
Well, in the future I will write how to give and in what order the figures. How to teach children chess in the future. I will describe the types of tasks, how to perform them with examples. I hope you and your child will find these tips helpful. But the main thing to remember - do not try to embody your ambitions in a child. Teach him to live and think, this will be the best use of chess.
If you have read everything carefully then you are welcome to continue - We are exploring the rook (Part 1)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/410883/
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