Blog Archives

What if we don't have enough scholastic tournaments nearby (or in our state)?

9/29/2015

Scholastic tournaments are important for young students who begin to get serious with chess. Almost all chess kids have played in some scholastic tournaments at some times during their chess development. As I discussed before, playing in tournaments is critical.

But what if there are very few scholastic tournaments in my state?

As with chess club, you can volunteer. You can easily become a Tournament Director (TD) with the following steps:

Order the 6th edition of the USCF rule book
Scan through the rule book. You will refer back to it again and again when you encounter problems in your tournaments.
Apply for TD Certificate.

All these take less than $50, and can be in done in one month.

After you are approved, you can start organizing small tournaments. Initially you can just do pairing manually. As with chess club, you can ask around, libraries, schools, churches, or cafes, to host your tournaments at low or no cost.

See the following for more information: http://www.uschess.org/content/blogcategory/342/668/

0 Comments

Can I ask my son his game status, while he is still playing?

9/22/2015

0 Comments

In large tournaments, a long game can last 2, 3 hours, up to 6 hours. When a parent sees his child coming out of the tournament hall, either running to bathroom or just walking around, he can't help asking about the game. But he should not. The most the child can say is s/he is done or not. If s/he is not done, s/he can't even say s/he is winning or losing. Discussing an ongoing game in any details is prohibited by USCF rule.

Most time you don't need ask. You can tell s/he is done or not by looking. If s/he carries all his/her stuff out, then s/he is done, otherwise not. Sometimes you can tell the game status by his/her expression, sad or happy. Of course, many kids have adopted poker face after years of tournament play.

You can offer your child food or water, but nothing more. If you do talk to each other, try to use English, not your native language, such as Russian, Hebrew, Hindi or Chinese. Mysterious language will arouse suspicion and cause some complaints, which will unnecessarily distract your child from his/her game.

0 Comments

Why playing games everyday is important?

9/21/2015

1 Comment

Chess is like piano, you have to practice everyday, especially for beginners.

If you only take chess lesson once a week, but rarely practice at home, you will quickly forget what you have learned in classes. For chess, many tactics or patterns may not present in a single game. You have to play many games to see them enough times and to remember them. Playing is the best way to digest knowledge.

In this process, winning or losing is not important. The key is that you see more, you experience more, and you think more. Everything becomes your intuition. Basing on that, you build up your knowledge, comprehension, calculation, and overall skill set.

1 Comment

Does my child have to win more to move up his rating?

9/17/2015

0 Comments

No, your child improves himself/herself by playing against stronger players, which means s/he will not win a lot, if s/he manages to win more.

If you enter a section as the top seed, such as 200 points higher than other players, you are supposed to win every game. If you do, you might gain 5 points. But if you lose or even draw a game, you might lose some points. So winning many games in this case will not help you at all.

In contrary, if you enter a section as an underdog, you fight hard and luckily draw or win one or two games, you will gain points. In addition, you gain precious experience from playing against stronger players.

Looking at my daughter's 9-year tournament history, she has played 919 games, winning 357, drawing 159, and losing 403. She is losing 46 games more than winning. Her win-vs-lose difference has always been negative. It was -40 when she got above 1500, peaked around -60 when she crossed 1800, and bounced around -52 when she became Expert.

0 Comments

Why do we want to reach 1500 as quickly as possible?

9/10/2015

0 Comments

1500 is a demarcation line that separates advanced players and beginner to intermediate players. Above 1500, the player should have good understanding of everything about chess. Chess is surely one of his/her hobbies. Even if s/he stops playing for a few years, when s/he picks up the wood again, s/he still feels the intimacy. At this level, s/he is more mature and self motivated.

Any kid, if s/he works hard enough, should definitely be able to reach 1500. It's like middle school diploma. It takes some time and some effort, but nobody should be unable to pass it. As a young kid, s/he is actually better in learning than adults. It's much easier for a kid to reach 1500 in a few year than an adult. A few factors contribute to that conclusion: kids have better memory, more time to study, more time to practice, eager to learn, easier to ask questions, braver to take risk, not fear of losing, and more positive about his/her growth potential.

Now why as quickly as possible? Because, the younger s/he is, the easier for him/her to achieve that. The achievement will provide the best feedback for his/her effort, and propel him/her up to a much higher level no one can imagine.

0 Comments

How to choose a chess clock?

9/3/2015

0 Comments

First, buy a digital clock. Analog is too old, not cheap, and missing a lot of functions.

Second, check if the clock has "delay" function. "Delay" is used more and more often in US tournaments.

Third, go to tournaments to find out which one you like. You don't need clock until your child begins to play in tournaments.

For beginners, I suggest: DGT North American Chess Clock
For advanced players: Chronos GX Touch Chess Clock

You can find them and other clocks in online stores. Compare prices. There is some difference.

0 Comments

How to choose chess sets?

9/2/2015

1 Comment

For a scholastic chess player, you should NOT use chess sets sold in toy stores, which are not cheap and often have indistinguishable figures. Search for a chess set online, and locate one in an online chess store or on Amazon. Pay attention to two things, King should be at least 3 1/4 inch tall, and the board should be about 20 inch x 20 inch.

For beginners, plastic pieces are fine. No need to pay attention to the weight, which is just some inserted lead. Do NOT buy colorful ones. They look childish and will be painful if you stare at shining red or blue pieces for 5 hours (that's normal in large tournaments).

The board color is more flexible, but still prefer dark ones: green and black are two popular ones.

If you have questions, go to some tournaments and observe. Check out which one is more common and which one is more appeal to your child.

1 Comment

Where to buy chess equipment?

9/2/2015

0 Comments

For a chess kid, there are a few equipment you need to buy: chess sets, chess bag, score books and chess clock. That's the minimum. You may want to consider chess books and chess software in future.

Where to get these basics?

As general shopping, you look at Amazon and Google first. The website I like most and I used most in last 10 years is: wholesalechess.com. Their products are cheap and of good quality. They also offer volume discount on most items. If you want to support my blog, you can use the link on the right to order anything from them in future.

0 Comments

What if we don't have enough scholastic tournaments nearby (or in our state)?

Can I ask my son his game status, while he is still playing?

Why playing games everyday is important?

Does my child have to win more to move up his rating?

Why do we want to reach 1500 as quickly as possible?

How to choose a chess clock?

How to choose chess sets?

Where to buy chess equipment?

Author

Archives

Categories