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Why commitment is important for your child's chess improvement?

7/25/2016

Learning chess is not just learning some chess knowledge or chess skills. It's also learning to make commitment.

At numerous times, I was told by parents why their child can't come to chess class: s/he has a piano class, s/he has soccer training, s/he has a swimming lesson, we have family dinner, s/he has a birthday party, s/he has Chinese school, s/he has skate lesson, s/he needs to prepare for tests, and etc. I am not saying other things are not important, but it seems that the parents value all other things as more important than chess. What impression you have given your child? Chess is low priority, if you don't have time, you can skip it.

Then they will skip class here and there, and leave their chess education with a lot of holes. Not only they are robbed off the chance to succeed in chess, but they also learn a non-committal attitude. In future, they will use one activity as excuse to procrastinate another activity. They will not commit to anything.

As we all know, chess requires at least 5 to 10 years to reach advanced player level. If you don't have any commitment, missing class here and there, or taking one quarter of chess lesson and then skipping another quarter, or taking long summer break, the time for reaching advanced level will be doubled or tripled. Most likely, your child will drop out of chess forever.

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When should my child start to play in large tournaments?

7/18/2016

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A short answer: as early as possible.

A long answer: when your child gets rated, s/he is ready for any tournaments. The earlier s/he gets some experience of large tournaments, the earlier s/he could cut off the cord of scholastic tournaments. In large tournaments, most likely s/he will play long time-control, and play against some adults. S/he could learn how to play patiently, how to think thoroughly, how to control the tempo of her/his play, and how to plan out end games. S/he will get the experiences and lessons s/he needs when s/he becomes more advanced earlier.

Looking at one player's tournament history, I found that he has played for about 5 years, and about 300 tournaments, but he only stays at 1300. He can't be said not diligent, one tournament every week, but he is not making progress as expected. Why? Looking deeply, there is no large tournaments in history. Most of them are league tournaments, which is one game a week. I believe he is also taking the chess lesson every week at the club. Other than leagues, the others are exclusively scholastic tournaments, local, state, and national. This is not a rare case. In fact, if I see a player stuck in under 1000 for a few years, most likely I will see this "never wean" pattern. It's very sad that they stay in this "baby" status, though they have put in a lot of effort.

Whenever your child reaches 800 level, s/he should consider large tournaments. S/he could start with the lowest section: such as under 1200, preparing to lose all her/his games. The experience s/he gains will benefit her/him forever. With such a low rating, s/he actually has one advantage: not afraid of losing rating. Equipped with this braveness, s/he may outperform her/himself. That's what usually happens.

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Is chess useful for college application?

7/12/2016

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As I said in my previous article, I don't know for sure. But as far as I know, all the chess players I am familiar went to top schools.

One thing I know for sure is that chess is the main subject of my daughter's application. She only applied to one top liberal art school, and got in. She was accepted before the NY Times article came out. So I am sure there are some qualities of chess players that the college acceptance officers like.

One character all chess players possess is persistence. To reach some level, no matter it's GM, IM, national master (2200), expert (2000), or class A (1800), the players have to spend 5 to 10 years to study, practice and play in tournaments. There is no shortcut. S/he has to be persistent, maintaining her/his passion, motivation, and interest.

Another character is focus. If a chess player can focus on improving her/his chess, s/he can focus on academics too. Not surprising, s/he often performs well in schools and tests. That's one big difference between chess and video games.

Third character is positive social impact. Not everyone has it, but playing chess definitely helps. S/he has to go to class, go to chess camps, go to tournaments, and interact with other kids. S/he will make friends, join clubs, play as teams, etc. Sooner or later, s/he will consider making contribution back to the society: volunteering, teaching kids and adults chess, and promoting chess among girls and underprivileged.

The last character is the most important, in my opinion, much more important than her/his rating or grade. If your child is weak in this area, s/he should definitely work on it, getting some friends, join clubs and play on some teams.

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Why commitment is important for your child's chess improvement?

When should my child start to play in large tournaments?

Is chess useful for college application?

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