I have had a number of parents ask how to
know when their child is ready to play in a chess tournament.
There are 2 components to that answer.... 1) do they know enough chess
and 2) does the child have enough interest/attention span/emotional
maturity to spend an entire day at a tournament.
How much chess do they need to
know?
Chess tournaments are designed for
players at all levels. In particular, local tournaments sort
players based on ratings (unrated players seeded partially based on
age/grade). So, low level players will play in a group of
similarly rated players. That way, all children have a chance to
do well on any particular day. That said, they still need to know
all the basic rules. They need to know how the pieces move and
capture, the differences between checkmate and stalemate, when it is
legal to castle, etc. All of this is covered in the beginner
workbook (Chess Rules for Students) that is available for free
through the club. Completion of the workbook is required prior to
the child taking his/her pawn test. The pawn test is a very basic
test of do they know the rules and can they recognize a checkmate when
the see one. While I can not enforce this suggestion, I would
strongly recommend that you not
enter your child in a chess tournament until they have passed their pawn
test. Passing that test is a good indication that they know enough
chess to play in the lowest divisions.
Please remember, learning to play chess is a lot like learning to
read.... your child needs to practice at home. If you have a
child in Kindergarten or First Grade and the workbook is above their
reading level, you need to read it to them. We also have
software with good drills and other workbooks available. Please
use them
Interest / attention span /
emotional maturity....
If you include registration, a
lunch break, and an awards ceremony, a typical 5 round G/30 (meaning
each side has up to 30 minutes to complete the game) chess tournament
will take 7-8 hours. For a lot of parents, this is about as much
fun as waiting in an airport lobby after all the flights have been
canceled due to bad weather and most of the seats are already taken.
But for the kids who really enjoy chess, this is typically a fun day.
They play 5 rounds of chess (there is no elimination), they play with
their friends in between rounds, they eat their favorite food (pizza),
they have a chance for a trophy.... Life is good. However,
not all children are ready to hang through 5 rounds of chess at the same
age. Some 5 year olds are, some 5 year olds aren't. Not all
children can pick themselves up from a defeat as easily as others.
If they fall apart after loosing a couple of games, it could be a
really long day for all involved. You know your child better than
we do. They won't be left behind if they don't start playing
competitively in Kindergarten or the First Grade. By the same
token, there are some who definitely are ready! You need to be the
judge.
Please note: the following link is currently
broken. If I can find it again, I will put it back.
I like the article
A Chess
Coach's View of Competitive Chess.
It offers some very good advice to families just entering the world of
competitive chess, on managing expectations and focusing on improvement.
Hope this helps,
Martha