I coach at a school that is K-8. I recruit chess players from grades 5-8, just because that is as many kids as I can handle in one class.
A first grader asked if he could join the group. I said OK, if the parents agree to leave him after school. He had a great time at his first meeting. The older kids were amazed at how well he played already.
I then met the mother. She said that no one in the family plays chess. Her son learned it by himself from the internet.
The kid who won our recent tournament is 7 years old and has been playing two years. According to his dad, he learned the game by playing on the computer against Chessmaster. His dad doesn’t know how to play.
I learned chess in a very odd way, and nobody believes me. I was either 7 or 8 years. Was very shy. I spent almost a year watching guys play chess in the schoolyard till I just figured out the rules eventually. Was too shy to ask them a question. Yep, it might have been a whole year, maybe less (you know how what seems like a long time when you’re young is a short time when you’re old!). I still remember, in the PS 272 schoolyard (Canarsie, Brooklyn). Then my father’s friend beat up on me for a year (on the chessboard), i couldn’t figure out why that was happening. Then one day, I was 11 years old, I was home sick from school for at least a week. My mom wanted to occupy my time and took out that big, huge Fred Reinfeld book from the library, I forget the name of it, but y’all know the book i’m talking about… Well, that was it, after that, I was hooked.
As a rising 5th or 6th grader, I was waiting for my mom to pick me up from some program at the YMCA and a couple of older guys were playing chess, the first time I had ever seen the game. I checked out a library book on the game, mom bought me a chess set on the way home and I was in business. Just wish I had spent more time on “real” openings rather than just trying the 4-move cheap shot checkmate. After my dad bought me “How to Win in the Chess Openings” by Horowitz I finally started improving.
Joe, make sure you gush over him, do what you can to motivate him to continue playing. Do that with girls, too.
We have a youngster in our club who won a library tournament for Grades K-4 which qualifies him for the finals of the Carnegie Library Championships in Pgh. That event will be USCF rated. He is in kindergarten (!) and defeated several 4th graders. His mother said he learned at the age of 3 1/2. He just turned 6 and is looked on as a “veteran” or “senior” member of the club by the other kids. How good he will get is difficult to say as yet, but he loves the game and we gush all over him. He is afraid of no one and asks players 1600+ to play games. When I play him I allow him to take back moves; recently I have had to give him back fewer moves. He won’t play at piece odds as he thinks it is unfair to the other player!
Yes, echoing what the previous poster said - fine job on the club and website, especially the story about Vincent. I know from reading here that starting your club was a considerable effort on your part. Congratulations and good luck with it.
