OK so my 6 YO has just beaten me at chess...

[bearhug]

Where do we go from here? There is a local chess club which (from their website) appears to be old men only.

School don't have a club either.

Does he want to play more chess? If so talk to the chess club. What's
wrong with him playing against old men?

Whereabouts in the country are you? PM me if you like, I may be able to suggest something.

My 6yo dd plays chess, too. And beats me. If you're in Surrey or S London then pm me and I can give you details of the club.

He's a smart child who enjoys the game and could possibly be quite a good player if someone (clearly not me!) were to teach him properly.

We're in the East Midlands.

So why not the local chess club?

Or just play the computer till he finds people to play with.

Be careful what you wish for. Being 'good at chess' is practically a full time profession for children. It's scarily pressured and time consuming.

My DS entered a children's chess tournament. And I will never forget a coach yelling at a 6 year old because he hadn't written his game moves down (so he could analyse them later)

Because he's beaten you today doesn't mean he will beat you the next time you play...could you both join the club?

You could always just pop in to the chess club and ask if they know of any youth activities.

Most children will lose interest if they're the only kid in a setting (e.g. club) though some may thrive.

You could ask around at school, maybe there are some other chess players, together you might have quite a skill bank and you could jointly run an after-school chess group? With the local chess club maybe helping by providing material?

I'd try the local chess club - see if it welcomes children, it may well do. Or Google to see if there are any local junior competitions (try ones with an under 7 or under 8 category) he could enter.

Have you looked on www.englishchess.org.uk? They run junior leagues. I know there is a junior club in Walsall and maybe others nearer you. DS plays in another part of the country. Or contact your local "old man" club. Ours was definitely a no go, but they put us in touch with various grandchildren and eventually we found the english chess federation.

DS now lets me win, which is far more humiliating that being beaten.

It depends what you want, but if the goal is just to get him to improve at chess then there are some excellent apps for this.

They have a hundred different levels of difficulty and many of them have "suggest" facilities, where they will suggest the next move.

My son used to use one of these and he improved very quickly. I used a similar app for Connect 4. I thought I was good when I started, but consistently lost to the intermediate level. Within a few hours I was beating the advanced level with little difficulty.

Agree with potatoes -when DD was 10 she got through to semi finals of a national chess competition having previously just played her dad or school friends. I found it scarily aggressive and competitive. Some of the parents were awful and eavesdropping on their children's training regime made me feel sad. I was quite relieved when she knocked out in the first round.

She's continued playing for pleasure and is now playing some competive chess at Uni

Mine 7 year old does most times too. We just play at home as a family for fun though. He is much more intetested in other things.

This has not been our experience of national competitions!
The ones we've been to have been relaxed and friendly, with all the parents chatting and sharing picnics etc.

The only difficulty with the 'old men' type clubs is that they'll most likely be evenings, and that would be too late for a 6yo! My DH was 'adopted' by an old gentlemen's club when he arrived in UK (though not chess, another pastime), and they were wonderful- so encouraging, accepting, willing to offer advice and experience with absolutely no patronising or dismissive behaviour. They were just lovely, and remained friends with him long, long after he'd moved on, grown up, etc.

Anything for children that is competitive or at a comparatively high level can be rammed with aggressive parents and overly-driven children. The thing is simply to find like-minded people. DD1 used to belong to a scary swim club with screeching parents and sulking coaches; now we have found a more leisurely, enjoyable one which is probably just as successful at galas but without the stress. DS stopped toddler football for similar reasons (although it bothered me far more than him). Not all chess players have nutjob parents - some are just grateful to be away from minecraft without having to stand on a sideline in the rain.

Personally I would just keep playing at home unless he super loves it.

Ds1 is 5, he can beat me at chess sometimes. But he plays it like any other game ie snakes and ladders just as often. So wouldn't want him at an actual club. Chess is just something we do say whilst dinner cooks occasionally. Ds2 (4) is now ok at it also so they have begun playing each other

Thanks for all your responses! I think I might try to persuade school to start a club first. I really have no idea if the competitions would be for him. I am a poor player and can't judge if he's grandmaster material It's good to know that they are not all scary places though.

I'm not 100% sure about the idea of going somewhere to play for fun (ie, not at home). Surely, the inescapable problem is that all competitive activities are about winning and losing, by definition. And, even if your child is sanguine about it, there's a fair likelihood that the opponent won't be. I could be wrong, I love chess. But, I think you're far more likely to meet nut-jobs, anywhere, around chess than you are around most things, owing to the nature of the game.