Today, I received a question from a parent: Their child had been taking chess lessons for a while, learned the rules, and even learned how to play. However, they couldn't keep up with the teacher's pace and felt it was a bit difficult, so they stopped the lessons. But now, the child wants to play chess with their parents at home, and the parents don’t know how to play. What should they do?

This reminds me of when my daughter first took chess lessons. In her first game, she was completely beaten by a boy two years younger than her, and she ended up stopping lessons for a year. I've shared my daughter's story many times, so I won’t repeat it here.

Now, I'd like to share my thoughts on the issue mentioned above. First of all, the fact that the child is eager to play chess with their parents shows that they still enjoy playing chess, regardless of whether it's because they want to win against their parents. What parents can do is provide more opportunities for the child to engage with chess. This doesn't necessarily mean formal lessons. For example, you could organize playdates, take them to informal chess meetups at libraries where they can play with other kids, or even watch chess-related movies together. You could also attend activities like "Chess in the Park" or sign up for after-school programs (which are usually less formal and might not even have a teacher).

Of course, you could also consider switching to a different class or a new teacher. You could tell the child that mom and dad will learn chess along with them, and their job will be to teach you what they’ve learned. They might be very happy to take on that role.

Find one or two friends of similar age for the child to play with regularly, not necessarily just for chess. Having companions will make it easier for them to stay motivated. ✊

If they continue taking lessons, communicate more with the teacher.

The goal 🎯 is to foster a love for chess, not to achieve any particular ranking. Wait for the right moment. You never know when that "plane" will take off. 🛫

My daughter’s journey started in an after-school club (which she asked to join herself), not a formal chess school. It was a club where an external coach came in to teach, and I didn’t even know what she was learning or how much she was absorbing. But she kept at it for more than six months. She made friends, had fun, and the parents in the club were very supportive. Eventually, they started taking the kids to unrated tournaments. And slowly, that’s how she got started on her chess journey.
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I have not taken care of this blog for couple years, because I felt I had written most of what I wanted to say. Nowadays, there are still parents who know little about chess. When they hit road blocker  and want to seek help, they don't know where to find the help. So it's better to keep writing them, again and again.

I have cleaned up a lot of tasks I took on in last few years, especially with WeChat. It will be a clean slate. I'd like to write two or three articles per week. We will talk about anything about chess.

Not much I want to say. Please check back often.
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The Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational was founded by Susan Polgar commissioned by USCF in the early 20th century, corresponding to the Denker High School tournament. It has the longest history among the four major tournaments.

SPFGI starts with mini camp, the first two days of training, one day of sightseeing, then puzzle, blitz, bug house, and finally the main games. In recent years, the first three days have been gone. After the epidemic, many games have been played online. So the level became much lower. The main reason may be that Susan has retired. So you must seize the opportunity when it's in person.
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Someone in the WeChat group talked about that a certain GM was looking for top students, not the students, but the parents.

As a basic-level coach, I neither pick on students nor on parents. But I can roughly guess from the active participation of parents whether this student will achieve good results in the future.

If parents are indifferent to their children's chess learning, they don't know when their children will go to class (because of the time difference, some need to be converted), they don't care what their children are studying, or what homework they do, and they never communicate with me. If the child has to miss a class, they won't notify me. The future of such a child is dire. What's more, the child can't find a quiet place to attend class. Behind the scenes, parents and friends talk loudly, washing vegetables and chopping meat, and scolding other children. How can the child concentrate on class?

Some parents turned a deaf ear to my suggestion to play in tournaments. Without tournaments, there would be no results. How to motivate children’s enthusiasm? How to motivate parents’ enthusiasm? If it is to have some education or some intellectual training, I have no objection. If you want to achieve results, you need to reflect carefully.

I don't have much contact with children, that is, for more than an hour during class. The parents and I meet in the WeChat group every day. I try my best to give puzzles, make suggestions, answer parents' questions, and organize various study groups. If parents are not interested at all, it is difficult to say that children will be interested. Parents need to sign up and pay tuition for children's classes, and parents need to sign up for children's tournaments and drive them there. If they stay in a hotel, it's a full set of logistics. It can be said that the future of children is in the hands of parents. Teachers can be replaced if they are not good, but parents cannot.

This time we talked a little bit negatively, next time we will talk about positive examples.

It has been one year and nine months since I entered Xiaohongshu in November 2022. About 800 articles were published, almost two a day on average.

The theme is basically:
- Introduction to U.S. Chess: USCF, tournaments, rating
- Recommended books
- Day puzzle, chess news
- 5334
- Interview with outstanding players’ parents
- My teaching, course introduction, outstanding student results
- Little knowledge about chess

Almost all articles are included in my album. Look at Figure 2-6. Today I will start a new series, just based on my feelings, without a specific theme. Can be long or short. Hope you all like it.

My Xiaohongshu : 北美棋爸
My Bilibili: 北美棋爸2