Chess Parents FAQs
  • Blog
  • Index
  • 5334
  • Camp
  • About

Should I ask my child to record his games?

2/13/2015

1 Comment

 
When my child plays in the lower sections at PDS or CJCT, he is not required to record his games. Should I ask him to record?

The answer is definitely YES. 

First, for any rated tournament, USCF requires players to record their games. It's the evidence for Tournament Director makes decisions when there is a dispute. Some TDs might not enforce the rule, but it doesn't mean ok. I once played a 4 or 5-year old boy, who could not write well yet. His dad just stood behind him and recorded the game for him (with my permission). They later got a Monroi for the boy, who became a Master at age 10.

Second, your child need the score sheet to review games by himself or with his coach. Most players can remember games clearly right after, with a little training, but most will forget a few moves in middle after two or three days. then they can't replay the games. So score sheet is a must. Reviewing his own games is critical for him to learn and improve.

Third, writing down notation will slow down your child, so he will not rush out moves and hopefully may think more. Some writes down notation first on score sheet, then makes the move on board. He will have another chance to change mind.

You should ask your child to practice recording at home when he plays offline, so he can make it into a habit. You can create a score sheet with Excel by yourself. That's what I did initially. It's better to get a score book, Monroi or Plycount. Loose sheets are tended to get lost.

Here is one of my daughter's early score sheets. It was her first tournament, and not rated. She was not an USCF member yet, and her opponent was above 800. Luckily she didn't know it beforehand. The game lasted more than one hour, way out of scheduled time, They had to put on a clock. Under the pressure (she had not seen a chess clock before), she missed one-move checkmate (see the last move on the sheet) and lost her game after another 30 moves.

alice_elina.pdf
File Size: 160 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

1 Comment
chess parent
5/9/2017 09:30:19 pm

I agree that kids should record thier moves. I have found that paper they tend to mess up their notation. We used plycount and had improved notation. However it is a great deal of money to purchase these devices. We also had 2 go bad on us. Customer service is hard to reach and at the end, both will probably need to be replaced. They were only good for 1 year. I just won't buy from plycount.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Coach Andy
    Princeton Chess Academy

    Having been a chess parent for more than 10 years himself, Coach Andy will answer questions about chess, chess education, scholastic chess for chess parents from his own experience and lessons. 

    Daily Puzzles

    Steps Method

    Online Course

    Chess^Summit


    Please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

© Copyrights 2015 All Rights Reserved | Daily Math Worksheet, LLC