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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Can my 5 yr old learn to play chess?

14 replies

anorak · 04/07/2006 22:04

He has just learnt draughts and is mad keen on it. After a few games he is getting the hang of strategy and thinking ahead. He wants to know about chess. I don't see any harm in giving it a go, if he is too young it will be obvious and we will shelve it for later.

Has anyone else taught a 5 yr old to play chess?

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LIZS · 04/07/2006 22:06

ds started about then . He's not good yet but understands the pieces and how they move, check and so on . They have an oversized set at school and a small group like to play - one per side guiding the others moving !

Hallgerda · 04/07/2006 22:07

I've tried, but mine didn't really get it properly until they were around seven. Here is a nice site.

stapo1 · 04/07/2006 22:30

My ds1 started at 5 he is only 6.5 now but loves playing neither dh or I are any good at it & struggled to remember all the moves but he constntly nags us to play, he is improving faster than us.
As long as he enjoys it I can't see any harm

Original poster

anorak · 04/07/2006 22:38

Great stuff! So he's not the only one then.

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charliecat · 04/07/2006 22:40

My dds both learnt at 5, well one of them still is 5 and corrects Nana when she gets it wrong
Hey could these chess kids get online somewhere and play? I know dd1 plays draughts on yahooligans.

charliecat · 04/07/2006 22:40

OMG wierd..chess kids is the name of the site I hadnt looked at first LOL

essbee · 04/07/2006 23:45

Message withdrawn

controlfreaky2 · 05/07/2006 00:32

my ds's now 9 and 7 each started at 5 and love it. have a lok at pc game called fritz and chester which is really good. we have just started a chess club at school for the 8/9 year olds...

milward · 05/07/2006 00:46

my DD2 who's 5 plays chess - she sometimes invents her own types of chess games & plays games mainly wih dd1 who's 8.

CristinaTheAstonishing · 05/07/2006 06:44

DS is 6.5 but still confused by chess. Not so much about the moves as about the long-term strategy and forward planning. I'd read too that they really aren't ready for it till a bit later, although there are obviously exceptions.

roisin · 05/07/2006 07:35

Yes, dss both learned to play pre-school. Now they have other things they are keener on, and haven't particularly got the chess bug - but they can still beat me!

On the advice of a friend we started off just with the king and pawns (play a normal game with all the usual rules), then introduced the other pieces a pair at a time: that way they could grasp the different move rules and strategies for each piece one at a time. But the boys were just 3, you might not need to do this with a 5 yo.

Original poster

anorak · 05/07/2006 08:10

This is all very encouraging. I will try him on it and see how he gets on. I can't see it doing any harm.

Thanks everyone.

OP posts:

warthog · 05/07/2006 10:40

what about starting him on go? very simple and easy to start with, can start at 3 and can be as complex as you want it!

Hallgerda · 07/07/2006 14:02

charliecat, DS1 had a few goes at playing chess on Yahooligans, but kept on playing opponents who lost interest and disappeared after a few moves. Adult Yahoo games chess contains far too much offensive chat. If anyone knows of a good online chess games site, please tell me!

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