Have you ever taught chess to kids?

I work with kids weekly at our local Boys and Girls Club.  As I live in a small community (approx. pop. 5000) I have taught a significant percentage of the elementary students in our town, having taught a few hundred kids over the years.  I now use a point system that allows them to earn chess stuff like tournament sets, computer software, etc.  While it does take a lot of patience to go over the most basic aspects again and again, I have found it very rewarding.  I've also taught both my daughters the game. 

I have four kids 11, 9, 9, and 7.  I have taught all to play and have three

suggestions for teaching your own kids:

Keep it fun.  It is real easy to try and move to quickly.

After the excitement of having all the pieces on the board has worn off,

     usually after two or three games of you reminding them what a piece

     may or may not do, set up king, queen and just bishops with four pawns,

     king, queen and just knights with four pawns, etc.  The kids still love

     to play and will learn the natural moves of the pieces quicker.

Always play them at their level, until they start to grasp the game and

     can handle an educational slamming.  Nothing puts the fire out quicker

     then an overwhelming loss.

I'm fifteen and i coached a chess team to becoming state champions in one year.

As a school teacher for many years, I have taught a few kids how to play from the beginning and I have taught many who knew little beyond the rules how to play better.  In fact, for many years, until I seriously got back into chess recently, this was the only chess I played.

I have two jobs: first, I work as a teaching aid at a local elementary school (working primarily in the Kindergarten and first grade rooms). My second job is that of a chess coach for children. I teach either privately one-on-one, or I also use to teach larger groups of kids at the local library. I love working with children - they think about things and view the world much differently than adults - leading to unique creativity and problem-solving.

exactly.

Kids are SPONGES, if they're interested, they will learn everything by themselves.

They only need a lot of experience,and simple vision trainings as
Knight flights, Knight sights, pawn grabs, critical squares vision drills, that are insane if they practice with interest.

they will learn all the rest by themselve later.

yeah some of my classmates at school :)

I taught a  7 year-old kid across my street how to play.  He was just a beginner, but I showed him some easy tips to becoming a stronger player.  After a few sessions (I got paid in lunches, which was pretty awesome), he told me he was going to compete in his first tournament at his school.  We were both pretty excited, but I became too busy to accompany him to it.

He ended up taking first in it, and was absolutely ecstatic.  Being a teacher to a kid and watching them grow in Chess and develop a love for the game is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done, hands down.

Yes Erik, anything you could share would be greatly appreciated.

I work in a public elementary school and have led a chess club for the last couple of years.  It is a lot of fun but I also have some of the same frustrations as expressed here in that some kids really want to learn and others just want to play without knowing what they are doing. 

I usually start with pawns and let them play pawn games (the first to get a pawn to the back rank is the winner)  I then add bishops.  (The goal is now to get a pawn to the back rank or capture all the opponents pawns.)  Then add Rooks, then knights.  Knights seem to be the hardest for the kids to learn.  By the time they are ready for the Queen they are ready for a full game.   The next thing I focus on are finding basic mates in one or two. 

Thanks to all of you who volunteer at local schools and please more of you try it out.  Most schools cannot afford to pay for a chess program, but kids need to be given the opportunity to learn the game and all the great thinking skills that go with learning to play. 

I hope that this forum will be a place to continue to exchange ideas and ask questions.

I used to teach kids all over Los Angeles Unified School District.  One of the best jobs I ever had.

Lasted for a year and then I got married and had to do something which brought in more money.  Boy was that fun though.

I actually just started teaching my oldest son (5 y.o.) how to play.  He actually grasped most of the basics right away (how to set up the board, how pieces move).  As others have mentioned, he has a lot of trouble moving the knight, but's he's been getting better and moving bishops and rooks. 

The best thing I've found for teaching him to understand piece movement is a silly game on my Chessmaster program called "Fork My Fruit".  The game involves finding forks of randomly placed fruits laid out on the board using various pieces (sometimes you have just a Q, and others you have both rooks and bishops, etc.).  The idea is to fork fruits of the same kind and do it in as few moves as possible.  My son absolutely loves this game and begs me to play it. 

I've noticed over the past couple of weeks that he's gotten much better at seeing where the forks are, and how he can get his pieces to the right square.  For example, he knows that if he gets a rook in between two fruits on the same rank or file he forks them, and lately he's been visualizing the bishop diagonals as well.  And while he still has trouble with the knights, by playing the game he's been able to learn their movements much easier than in a real game.  In addition, he's quickly grasping chess notation, and I can simply direct him to analyze a particular square when deciding to move.

We also play straight games as well, and I usually keep him from blundering.  Typically all he really cares about is capturing pieces and Queen promotions, so the games aren't as instructive as they could be.  From reading the comments, however, I think I have some good ideas of how to simplify the game.

Anyone got any tips for teaching kids the basics of chess.  I have an oppurtunity to teach/show the game of chess to kids in juvy jail so I could use some assistance.  Any books recommended would also be good.

Willis10  you may want to check out "Teaching Chess Step by Step" This is published by the Kasparov Chess foundation.  You can visit the website at www.kasparovchessfoundation.org    I use the material at my school. 

I'm in the process of teaching my eight-year old nephew how to play. For Christmas my wife and I are getting him No Stress Chess, a learning package from Barnes & Noble. He's a good kid and needs some outlet other than video games.

Going on seven years here and never been less happier!

I teach chess in classrooms: mostly grades 2-3, but some 1, 4, 5, and even K. Usually 20-24 kids, four class periods over two weeks.

Day 1: pawns

Day 2: kings and pawns

Day 3: add bishops and rooks

Day 4: add queen and knight

I've been teaching these classes four years or so, and have been involved in elementary school chess twice that long.

I run a chess club at my school. I have found that most of the kids that turn up seem to have the basics already and those that don't I usually pair up with kids that do. I have found helping the kids to visualize the moves they are having difficulty understanding seems to work.  I ask them to think about medeval combat, under the premise that most will have seen films such as Lord of the Rings or Braveheart etc. I ask them to consider the movement of the pawn. He is the foot soldier who must move forward with sword and shield.  Because of the shield he has to strike to right and left diagonally and not over the top of the shield (demonstration using large chemistry text book and meter ruler).  The en passant move, I ask them to imagine the enemy soldier(pawn) trying to run past an enemy soldier and exposing his back as he does so and being slain.  If he is not slain at that moment he will be too far away!

The other main problem seems to be understanding the rules about the king i.e. check and checkmate.  The rules of castling fall into place once the ideas of check are understood.  I tell them to think and to remember their history lessons.  In medieval Europe it was the done thing to capture the enemy king and later ransom him, rather than kill him.  I cite the case of Richard the Lion Heart. Not that many of them seem to know about Blondel's rescue. I  point out that the word check is Persian for yield/ surrender.

Finally we run an all play all club championship, an open championship to recruit new members.  Lately I have been directing members to this website.

Yes the basics how to move the piece...pushing wood is my specialty...but real chess...NOT!

I teach some after school programs organized by a for-profit small business.  One suggestion would be to charge for the class.  This can be debated ad nauseum, but most people do not value something that doesn't cost them anything. 

My next suggestion would be to have a belt system, like martial arts, to set goals of achievment.  Bring a snack like chess cookies, and find some cheap giveaways (i.e. chess keychains) to give to kids who answer correctly.  The "tuition" can cover the cost of that.

You might also want to pair up the kids immediately at the start of class, with plenty of space between them so they only interact with you and their opponent.  Good luck, I'm still learning how to teach.