The earlier the better. As soon as your child shows interest in chess, you should start to introduce her/him to chess. The best beginning teacher is in fact parents. That's why I encourage parents to buy the Step 1 manual, and study with your child together.
Nowadays, with the advance of computer, and the ease of travel, more and more young kids pick up the wood very early and make great progress at super-fast speed. The GM record has been lowered from high teens to low teens. The current record is 12 years old.
The best age I suggest is still 6-8. 5 is a little bit young, but can possibily work. 4 is too young for any chess school. Above 8 is a little late and require too much efforts to overcome the late-starter disadvantage.
Based on the observation in last 10 years, the average student can reach expert level (2000) after 100-150 tournaments. If your child play 2-3 tournaments a month, that will take 3-5 years. If s/he wants to be a master (2200), then add another one to two years. Add half to one year before her/his first rated tournament. Overall it might take about 8 years for a child to become a master after s/he made her/his first move. This means s/he would become a high school student and would be very busy with her/his academics.
So, going backward, it's better to start early, and start slowly so s/he could have a solid foundation. We can have enough time to observe and decide if s/he has potential.
Nowadays, with the advance of computer, and the ease of travel, more and more young kids pick up the wood very early and make great progress at super-fast speed. The GM record has been lowered from high teens to low teens. The current record is 12 years old.
The best age I suggest is still 6-8. 5 is a little bit young, but can possibily work. 4 is too young for any chess school. Above 8 is a little late and require too much efforts to overcome the late-starter disadvantage.
Based on the observation in last 10 years, the average student can reach expert level (2000) after 100-150 tournaments. If your child play 2-3 tournaments a month, that will take 3-5 years. If s/he wants to be a master (2200), then add another one to two years. Add half to one year before her/his first rated tournament. Overall it might take about 8 years for a child to become a master after s/he made her/his first move. This means s/he would become a high school student and would be very busy with her/his academics.
So, going backward, it's better to start early, and start slowly so s/he could have a solid foundation. We can have enough time to observe and decide if s/he has potential.
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