Blog Posts - Chess Parents FAQs

Why no tournament is interest killer?

2/8/2018

For my step 2 or up students, I send email notice every week to parents, to let them know where are the tournaments that weekend in NJ. I strongly encourage them to bring their child to tournaments. I try my best to arrange my higher level classes away from weekends, because that's when most tournaments happen.

The reason I sacrifice my class time and push them to tournaments are:

First, tournaments are where they apply and test the knowledge they learn. This is the only way they can master the skills solidly.

Second, tournament environment is much more serious than class environment. You don't know most of your opponents, and everyone wants to beat you. When you are serious, you think more and think better.

Third, winning a tournament is a big confidence booster. Your child will be much more interested in improving him/herself.

Fourth, playing in a tournament is also a small goal. If you perform well in small tournaments, you may go to state tournaments or nationals. All these goals are motivating your child to work hard. Without goals, where can you reach?

My best students are in Step 4 class. All of them are playing in the tournaments. I track all my students' tournament progress. If I see some previous students stop playing tournaments, I know I would lose track of him/her pretty soon. Very likely, s/he will stop playing chess completely.

What is the biggest problem for a child who studies chess?

2/6/2018

I have taught a lot of kids and talked with a lot of parents. The foremost question from parents is: I don't know chess, how can I help my child? This is a challenge for both the parent and the child. It's also a challenge for me. As a coach, I can't see your child everyday. If your child attend my classes, I will see him/her once a week. That's the only time I can observe your child and give you some feedback.

The biggest problem for a child to stay with chess is studying chess everyday at home. Because they don't have anyone to ask at home when they have questions, they stop studying at home at all. Learning chess once a week is not enough. We learn Math everyday at school. We learn English everyday. We learn most subjects everyday. Chess is the same. You have to study it everyday. If you only touch chess once a week, you can't improve much. If you can't improve, then slowly you will lose interest. That's one reason we assign a lot of homework, so at least you have the opportunity to do a few problems everyday. We also suggest your child to play online everyday, and to go to tournaments if they are ready.

That's also the reason I am creating a new video course to mitigate the problem. We will work on a book together. If your child hit upon any problem, s/he can ask. I will record a video every week to answer questions. It's an ongoing course. My initial commitment is 2 years.

More information can be seen on:
http://www.chessparents.net/5334

There is a demo video there. I will record a few more in Feb.

Why parents are not best coach for your child?

11/21/2017

It's very good for a parent to introduce a child to chess. They share the same love, and have fun time together. In fact, when the child is young, age 4, 5, or 6, I really recommend parents to learn (if the parent doesn't know how to play chess yet) and teach their own kids.

But when the child needs to improve, it's totally a different story. I suggest you to send your child to another teacher or coach. It would be a nightmare if you try to be your child's own coach, even if you play chess well.

Let's assume that the parent knows chess well, maybe already a master, is it good for him/her to teach his/her own child? It's a NO.

First, children are not listening to parents, no matter how expert they are. It's much easier for a third party coach to tell the child what to do. It's same as school. Most kids will listen to their teachers, but not their parents.

Second, to make improvement, there will be inevitably a lot of criticisms. It's better to let the professional coach to deliver these criticisms. More efficient and less feeling hurt. The second part is in fact more important. Chess is not our destiny. From playing chess, we want to gain some benefits, no matter it's improving strategic thinking, improving concentration, or enhancing memory and abstract thinking. So we want to keep a close relationship with our child afterward. Acting as a coach in fact is counterproductive.

Third, most parents are not expert in chess. So teaching your child by yourself is like the blind men touching the elephant. It will take you a long time to figure out the correct approach, if you are lucky.

Therefore, seek for help, like in school, in sports, and in any other areas.

Why age is not important factor in chess?

10/17/2017

At school, we usually group students by age. In sports, we also group students by age. But in chess, age is not big factor. A 9-year old can be very strong, such as a National Master, beating all his peers and adults. Even for my students, a 6-year old student could be much more stronger than a 10-year old beginner. Therefore I can't determine your child's ability by age.

Knowing your child's age is important, because a 10-year old can understand things better than a 6-year old, so can catch up quickly. But it's not enough. I have to ask you his/her rating if s/he has played in tournaments, or how long has s/he learned. More important, I have to do an evaluation of him/her, to see his/her ability to handle chess games, his/her maturity, and etc. I offer the evaluation for free, so we could have a better picture of your child's ability before we put him/her into the correct step.

The youngest GM record is 12, and the youngest USCF national master record is 9. If a child works really hard, s/he could achieve very high. So next time if you sit across a child, pray for your game.

Why chess is not a short term project?

10/11/2017

Once a school district asked me to teach their students chess for 4 weeks. I said no. Chess is not a short term project. To pass the knowledge of chess and the passion for chess requires years of persistent study. Looking at all the chess kids, their growing up from 0 to 2200 takes at least 3 to 5 years. No one could become a chess master in a month.

Therefore, the schools and parents should keep a long term vision, thinking in years, not weeks. You can speed things up, if you work doubly hard. There is no shortcut in chess.

How much time does my child need to study chess?

9/29/2017

It's up to your child and up to you.

As long as s/he likes to learn chess and likes to play chess, 1, 2, or 3 hours are all fine. If s/he does not like to play chess, then 0 hour. Of course, the more time s/he puts in, the more s/he could achieve.

There is no genius in this world. All chess kids are smart. If you expect your child spends 10 minutes a day on chess and wins the national, you are dreaming. You can either find excuses for your child (and yourself) or help your child find time. There is no third way.

What is one-hundred loss challenge?

9/26/2017

When I first taught chess, I had a student who couldn't stand losing to his classmates. He was so afraid of losing that he could not play in classroom at all. If he didn't play, of course he would not improve. Then he could never win.

So I gave him a challenge, playing on chesskid.com against other kids. I told him: "You don't know them, so don't worry, losing was not that bad. I don't care about results, winning or losing. In fact, I want you to lose. I want you lose 100 games first. I will give you a prize when you reach the goal".

Initially he still played very few games. Every week I reminded him the 100-loss goal. Slowly he got into the habit, losing more games every week. After couple of weeks, after losing 40-some games, he began to have some wins. He could no longer continue his loss stream. Winning games shown up more and more, and he became more confident to play. In half a year, he started to play in tournaments.

Why fall is the best season to start chess?

9/25/2017

Because school year starts at fall, a lot of parents consider chess as a new activity for their kids. In fact, this is the best approach.

We all know chess is not a short term activity. You can't expect anything by just signing up for a few weeks. In fact, each of my Steps lasts for a school year. We start with basic workbook, more exercises with extra workbook, and additional topics with plus workbook. After one school year, students will finish at least 1000 problems. We can consider to move them to the next step. Some students may continue with more chess classes in summer.

Many students will continue their chess study for the whole school year. If you try to get in in winter and if you are lucky to get in, you will have missed the lessons for basic theory and one-third of material. If you try to get in in spring, most likely I will suggest you wait for next year, or go to lower step. The additional topics would be too difficult if you never had earlier lessons.

Of course, any time to start chess is good and not late. But to reap the greatest benefit, please consider chess in fall, maybe even begin to think about it in late summer. When the fall quarter starts, most seats are already gone. More than half of my classes are full before we kick off the first lesson.

What's the difference between after school chess clubs and classes at chess schools?

9/24/2017

It's same one hour exposure to chess. Is there any difference?

As a coach, I teach at both after-school clubs and at my own chess school. As a parent, I send my children to both after-school clubs and some classes outside school. I can tell you there are big difference between the two.

First, different student groups. At after-school clubs, the students are (in)volunteering to attend the clubs. The parents have difficulty to pick the children, so they just want to find some interesting or meaningful activity for their children. The children may or may not like chess. They have very little motivation to improve. For classes at chess school, it's the opposite. The students are self-selected. They want to learn and they want to improve. If your child wants to learn chess, which environment you want him/her in?

Second, most after-school clubs are just one quarter or at most one year. The teachers know their assignments are just 6, 8, or 10 weeks. They don't have long term vision. It's just a short term assignment. So they don't have any plan. Every quarter, they just repeat the material. They don't and can't care much about students' progress.

Third, when everyone has very low target, students have little motivation, and teachers are just fulfilling the contract, what can we expect? Most after-school clubs will always have beginners. Anyone who gets better will leave the club, because they don't want to waste any time anymore. This is a reality we have to face. Until the school is treating chess as part of curriculum, our children have to move on their chess study to outside chess schools.

Why do we encourage girls to play chess?

7/17/2017

Every fall, my daughter organizes a free NJ All-Girls Chess Camp to promote chess among girls. The 50-people camp has been always fully booked in two days.

In any culture, girls are not considered to be good at chess, or any mind-blowing activities. Why do we encourage girls to play chess?

I won't discuss those orthodox reasons here. I will show you some reverse thinking why you want to let your daughter play chess.

Comparing to boys, with fewer participants, girls can easily excel at chess. They can achieve very good results quickly. Good results of course provide positive feedback, and will motivate them to get better. For a boy to feel achivement, he needs reach 2200. For a girl, 2000 will make her outstanding.

Smart girls are not nerdy. They are actually very popular. Chess not only trains them how to think, but also helps them learn how to make friends and how to handle all kinds of social activities. Unlike math or science, chess is hard work combined with play, so chess girls can have a lot of fun.