Teaching chess to an 8 yr old

[High Plains Drifter 11050]

My daughter is really really good at strategy games like Chinese checkers (no racist). I figure she would be really good at chess. Any tips on how teach her chess?

[Updawg 2267]

I just started playing actual games with my daughter around that age. I also bought no stress chess but we didn't play that too much.

[gsoda3 3262]

My at the time five yr old loved no stress chess. You can play it the regular way, or to determine where you move and what you move (this is the no stress way) players take turns pulling a card from the deck that tells what piece to move and where.

[HornOnTheBayou 8931]

Both of my kids learned at school, so I never really had to teach them how the pieces move and all of that. When they were ready to think about strategies, we would play and I would talk through my strategy with them as we played. "I'm going to move my bishop here, so that you don't move your queen over here." That seemed to help them begin to formulate their own thoughts and ideas.

[Doc Reeves 6434]

Crush her brutally until she can compete. 

My dad did it to me and I hated it, but just a few years ago I thanked him for this strategy because it made me who I am today... then I killed him...

[gyroprotagonist 2594]

42 minutes ago, Doc Reeves said:

Crush her brutally until she can compete. 

My dad did it to me and I hated it, but just a few years ago I thanked him for this strategy because it made me who I am today... then I killed him...

9/10 should have added '...checkmate' at end for full points.  Maybe a CSI sunglasses coming down gif

Edited October 30, 2018 by gyroprotagonist

[zork 629]

Not sure this will help but if you have an older computer and can locate a copy of the old lego chess program it is fun for them to learn the game.  my son started using it when he was in kindergarden and loved it.  the game would crash some on windows xp.  still he had fun and learned to play.  then started playing some for 2 years at an elementary school chess club before we moved.  the new school didn't have it for the past 3 years so he hasn't played much.

i looked to see if it was on steam but it isn't.  it was originally sold in 1998 and isn't sold by lego anymore.  there are some copies on ebay and maybe some other re-sellers.  the only reason I had a copy is my much older brother had his kids back in the 90's and he gave me his old software that largely doesn't work on newer computers.  some you could get to work by copying the whole cd on to the hard drive but still hit or miss.  

good luck.  

[Bevo in VA 342]

5 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

My at the time five yr old loved no stress chess. You can play it the regular way, or to determine where you move and what you move (this is the no stress way) players take turns pulling a card from the deck that tells what piece to move and where.

My six year old also really learned a lot from No Stress chess.  He would sit there and play vs. himself with the cards.  He's since joined the chess club at his elementary school.  I sat down and played with him the other day and was surprised at his skill level.

Edited October 31, 2018 by Bevo in VA

[Mole 4333]

5 hours ago, Doc Reeves said:

Crush her brutally until she can compete. 

My dad did it to me and I hated it, but just a few years ago I thanked him for this strategy because it made me who I am today... then I killed him...

My name is Sue! How do you do! Now you’re gonna die!

[RoundRobin 828]

You go ahead and teach your kid to play chess. My kid will be along shortly to kick the crap out of them and take their lunch money. 

[52-80 19162]

if your 8 year old isnt already playing against Grandmasters by natural talent.... are you even trying?

[Sbbruin 21858]

My son beat me at chess when he was about 9.  Of course, 

[Bat Guano 359]

Teach her Go instead. Easier to learn but, IMO, a better game.

[Jkwellborn 6708]

Crush her brutally until she can compete. 
My dad did it to me and I hated it, but just a few years ago I thanked him for this strategy because it made me who I am today... then I killed him...

My best friend did something similar with his son and madden. Said he didn’t want us to take it easy on him because he wouldn’t learn how to play. Lol.

[zork 629]

On 10/30/2018 at 8:25 PM, RoundRobin said:

You go ahead and teach your kid to play chess. My kid will be along shortly to kick the crap out of them and take their lunch money. 

https://www.chess.com/lessons/view/6392?c=true

[Jkwellborn 6708]

You go ahead and teach your kid to play chess. My kid will be along shortly to kick the crap out of them and take their lunch money. 

Someone make this work for me.

[High Plains Drifter 11050]

Sounds like No Stress Chess is the way to go. I'll try it out. Thanks y'all.

[Kennythetiger 9389]

Yeah it looks like street chess is not no-stress chess.

[Modessit 5603]

When I was in 6th grade a couple of the math teachers would play chess at lunch and some of us would watch and ask to be taught how to play. They sent us to the library to get books on it and we did and started playing amongst ourselves. It wasn't long before the teachers stopped playing and started watching us. I like learning from the book because I could learn at my pace and could learn simple and then more advanced strategies and quick-win tricks to catch the unwary. Look for a good book for her intelligence level and let her start figuring some things out. Then be prepared to be taken down.

[tbone_ 14128]

Just start playing.

There used to be an ice cream place near our house. They had chess boards on the tables. Deal was kiddo had to play me to get ice cream. Started about 8. She’s 11 now and just beat me legit for the first time the other day.

[4thgenhorn 38]

Just start playing with your kid. We have a book that taught a few openings. My boy has been using them and can checkmate newbs in 4 moves. He plays in the after school chess club and wins most matches. But he is a sore ass loser when I beat him. 

[Focht Up 631]

Have her look up some games played by world champions and make each move in order.  That should stimulate some advanced thinking about strategies.

[zork 629]

this thread got me to find chess.com.  signed up for the free account and have had a lot of fun playing.  I suck pretty bad but through the last month and playing about 100 or so games of the 10 minute blitz variety I am just over 50% wins and fluctuating between 740 and 780 currently. 

you certainly learn to "take the loss, pussy" in that format a lot.  quick games and some very good players.  also some dumb decisions by decent players due to the time constraints.  very fun and you can just go play for about an hour and get some games in.(i like the daily tactics tests as well)

will probably sign my kid up for it at some point.

[horn4life 3762]

There is probably somebody or organization at her school that meets once a week.  You could join chess.com and they have tutorials and analysis of games if you pay some small fee.  I go there and play for fun and honestly haven't made any effort to improve via looking up strategies or paying for the site itself.  The thing about chess that I always thought was cool was that you needed to think about what the likely moves of your enemy and how you will adjust.  You are forced to consider multiple options each move and multiple counter moves.

What I do NOT like about chess is slow pace of play.  I play what are fast games for me and my opponent, so you have to think quickly.  I find the mental stimulation enjoyable but am not obsesseed with winning enough to try to improve at all...