Chess Parents FAQs - Blog

How to find a chess class?

8/13/2019

When you are new in chess, you know nothing. Your kids need to learn from someone (other than you if you know how to play), and s/he also needs some companions, so it's better sign him/her up for some chess class. But where can we find them?

If you are beginners, you should always look locally first. Face-to-face lessons will provide your kid much more interest and motivation to improve. S/he also practices against a real person. In the end, s/he will play in tournaments, i.e., play against real people. You can ask other parents, ask your school. Sometime your school offers after-school chess club. Look out for those activity announcement (usually gets home as a sheet of paper), and sign up early. Many times chess classes are hot to in elementary schools.

If you don't have after-school chess club at your school, you can ask your local libraries. Or you search online, typing in chess classes, chess school, chess academy, chess club, or anything similar. Google will give you some clues. Then call them or email them. A mature chess school should have a website.

If you can't find anything, you can talk to PTA and organize an after-school chess club by yourself. You can teach yourself chess as an adult, and teach the kids. The book "Learning chess: Step 1" manual is a good starting point. Every year we give away this book at our "All-Girls Chess Camp", and wish they could learn chess by themselves after the camp.

Or you can ask online, such as in our WeChat groups for chess parents.

Why endgame is important?

5/21/2019

According to the Russian School of Chess: endgame is the most important part of chess, and should be studied as the first subject. The Chinese School of Chess, endgame is considered no less important than the ultra-sanctuary openings.

When we watch beginners play games. Most games end up in checkmate in middle games. But still some end up as one side has a queen or two rooks and another side has a lonely king, the winning side can't make the kill. They move round and round, but have to shake hands in the end. It's very sad to see such a scene.

Not only beginners have difficulty with endgames, but also masters sometimes do. We had the famous game that a WGM could not find a checkmate in NB endgame.

Improving your endgames will greatly improve your winning rate. At 2000 level, at least half of the games end up in endgames. If you could win half of them, your winning rate will at least double.

In this summer, I will teach "Introduction to Endgame" course online. Details can be found at http://www.chessstepsonlinelessons.com/

What is the difference between adult tournaments and scholastic tournaments

2/11/2019

Usually scholastic tournaments are limited to K-12 kids. They can have section by age, by grade or by rating. Adults are not allowed to participate.

There are couple of differences between scholastic and adult tournaments.

One, scholastic tournaments are using shorter time control. Many of them finish in one afternoon. Most adult tournaments are lasting for days, except the club tournaments.

Two, scholastic tournaments are giving trophies, while adult tournaments are giving prize money.

Third, adult tournaments attract more people from other areas. Some might fly over to play.

Four, scholastic tournaments do not allow parents to watch. At adult tournaments, anyone can watch games.

Overall, adult tournaments are much more serious than scholastic tournaments because of the involvement of money.

Why does chess require persistence?

11/25/2018

Many parents think that chess is like other interesting activities, learn it once and reap benefits all your life. Yes, the statement is true, but the benefits could be small or big. If you only want to learn to play chess, yes, a few lessons are enough to learn piece moves and checkmate. You get "chess playing" knowledge. This knowledge is your only benefit.

If you want your child to learn: how to face stronger opponents, how to handle the disappointment after losing, how to be humble after winning, how to think, how to be patient, or how to persist, a few lessons are definitely not enough. It requires years of learning. Learning chess is a step by step, gradual, long term process. It's not a cram for tests. If you push them to learn too much in one session, they will only get a few points and forget everything else. They won't be able to use the knowledge they learn. Practice is much more important in chess than knowledge.

Like math and music, chess requires persistent learning and practicing, almost daily.

Why your own study plan never works?

8/23/2018

Some parents told me that they can do puzzles by themselves. They will let their child do 10 puzzles a day. Couple months I asked them again, have they finished the book? The answer is usually: No. They stopped at some time because of some reasons and never resumed, so the book is never finished. Why this happens? Why could they not follow their plan?

Because it's their plan, and they can change it at any time. They will change it when they hit some road bumper. They will pause it if they face some resistance. Most times they will not pick it up again, and they will create a new plan. This actually happens to me multiple times.

So if you want a plan, it's better to use other people's plan. Use some plan that you have no right to modify, to pause, or to cancel. That's why I created a plan for 5334 course, so all my students could follow that plan. Nobody could change it, except me. We get on the 2-year project, and we will finish it.

Why I emphasize solving chess puzzles everyday?

8/21/2018

If you have attended my steps classes before, you would know that I always assign at least 3 pages of homework everytime. The purpose for giving this many homework is to "force" your child to work on chess problems everyday. It's 36 problems a week, about 6 problems a day. I prefer your child finish 6 problems everyday to cram everything on last due day. It's actually a very good habit. Your child will refresh his knowledge everyday, and not feel overwhelmed.

But 36 problems are still not enough. And you don't take class, you don't have the homework. It's better to establish that habit with or without the class/homework. If you want to become good in chess, you have to practice (solving puzzles) everyday. Same logic for piano and math. That's the reason I created the video course of 5334, which is a two-year project. It will ask students to follow a schedule and do 6 problems everyday.

Now I am thinking about two courses focusing on solving problems everyday.

Why do we offer Step 1 right now?

5/24/2018

We have been offering Step 2, Step 3, and Step 4 online for 3 years now. Parents often told us that their child is not able to catch up on Step 2. They need more help, such as Step 1. To complete the suite, we are beginning to offer Step 1 online so kids can have access to chess class no matter what his/her level is. The only requirement for Step 1 is that the kid can play from the beginning to the end. We still believe that pre-Step 1 teaching requires face-to-face and maybe one-on-one interaction.

I have been offering pre-Step 1, Step 1 up to Step 4 offline for 5 years now. Step 1 is in fact the most popular class. The new online Step 1 will follow the 3-session model: Step 1, Step 1 extra, and Step 1 plus. A big early concern was that the Step 1 students usually play slowly, so they can't finish their games in class. But we changed our online class format. They will not play in class anymore. They will play before the class. The coach will review their game records. This is one big advantage of online classes over the offline classes.

Let's wish the new Step 1 class could be successful!

Why do we offer the Steps class online?

5/18/2018

I have been offering the Steps classes online for 3 years now. I have students from CA to MA, and even some attending from China. The main reason for online classes is the feasibility. Not everyone could come to my classroom, especially if you are out of state. Even some in-state students take classes online to save some time on the road.

Another reason is the flexibility. Because it's online, you can take it anywhere. Most students are attending at home, some at hotel during tournaments, and some on cars while their parents drive. It is much easier to transit into other activities, because the parents have no need to drive from one place to another place. It's very helpful when students have many more activities nowadays.

We are using Steps as our core curriculum. It's very easy to follow our schedule. We also provide video recording for each lesson in case your child needs to review or to catch up when s/he misses the lesson.

For current offering, you can check:
http://www.chessstepsonlinelessons.com/

Do I require your child to solve my daily puzzle?

4/27/2018

This morning a parent from WeChat groups asked me about my daily puzzle. Do I require her child to solve it? I have to answer NO. I can't require anything because I am not your teacher. I am a teacher for very few kids in the groups. I share a puzzle a day because I consider the puzzle is interesting and educational. All the puzzles are not very difficult. I can be pretty much sure what the answer should be. Most times some parents are more eager to answer them. But sometimes children solved them.

To be honest, solving one problem a day is completely insufficient. But if your child gets into the habit of solving puzzles, this will be really helpful. I know one child who used to solve my daily puzzle in neat handwriting, she is above 2000 right now. That's only 2 years ago.

BTW, answers for daily puzzles are available at:
http://www.chessstepsonlinelessons.com/blog

How long will it take to groom a chess player?

3/1/2018

Let's assume 2000 is a decent level to reach. For the fastest kids, it will take about 3 to 5 years to reach that level. The youngest master (2200) is a 9 years old, but he started to learn chess at 5 or 6 years old. In chess, just like in other activities, there is nothing like quick success. All successes take years. If you want to be faster, you have to work harder. The total effort is about same.

Most kids may take 5 to 10 years to reach 2000, if they persist. The key here is persisting. Most actually quit chess or slow down to put in any effort in chess after they reach middle school. 95% will shift from chess to college application when they reach high school.

For adults, the time may take even longer, due to several reasons: more distractions, less time to play and study chess, and slower in learning new knowledge.