4 ms·

On a vaguely related note, any suggestions for books for a 7½-year-old who's fascinated with chess? It seems like there's kind of a gap between books that are g

by dhosek 5y ago

On a vaguely related note, any suggestions for books for a 7½-year-old who's fascinated with chess? It seems like there's kind of a gap between books that are geared towards total beginners and those which will have you analyzing games. I'm looking for something that will help him develop his skills beyond the basic moves. (I will say, that having introduced him to loser's chess and finding a free iOS app for him to play, he as able to consistently beat the app within a couple weeks, but regular chess is still hit or miss for him and I suspect the AI in the loser's chess game might have been limited).

mpol 5y ago
The Steps method is the official didactic method in Dutch chess. There are different levels. If you succeeded all levels, you should arrive at 1600 FIDE, from there on you can pick up other methods. I have no idea if there is an international interest in this, but in the Netherlands this is standard repertoire for chess youth. https://www.stappenmethode.nl/en/index.php https://www.stappenmethode.nl/en/index.php
83457 5y ago
Chess puzzles?
desmosxxx 5y ago
Jeremy Silman's books are great for beginner/intermediate strategy after they've read a few of the total beginner books. How to Reassess Your Chess & The workbook Complete Book to Chess Strategy are both good. They might be a little heavy for a 7 year old but with some guidance I think they're doable. I think I read them when I was 9 or 10 and didn't have any trouble. Chess.com lessons are really good too and might even be a better place to start. chess master 10 had a great walkthrough tutorial on strategy by josh watzkin that i did around that age, if you can find a copy of it
billforsternz 5y ago
The canonical answer to this question is "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" by my good friend GM Murray Chandler.
interblag 5y ago
"Winning Chess Tactics" by Yasser Seirawan might be a good sweet spot. It has some board positions and uses a bit of notation, but it's still pretty easy to read and is a natural step up from intro play into basic tactics...
mongol 5y ago
I remember a good book by Bobby Fischer. Could be "Bobby Fischer teaches chess". Learned me how to attack in a way no other book did.
- lupire 5y ago
  BFTC is for the absolute beginner. It's mostly mate in 1/2/3 puzzles. (And it's not "by" Bobby Fischer. It just licensed his name. The book is famous for being the first chess book with diagrams typeset by computer.)
dan_mctree 5y ago
This seems to be a trend in general. Books or instructional videos are usually either made for people who are assumed to know basically nothing, or people who can be assumed to already know everything. I find it makes self guided learning very difficult in almost any field

by dhosek 5y ago

mpol 5y ago

The Steps method is the official didactic method in Dutch chess. There are different levels. If you succeeded all levels, you should arrive at 1600 FIDE, from there on you can pick up other methods. I have no idea if there is an international interest in this, but in the Netherlands this is standard repertoire for chess youth. https://www.stappenmethode.nl/en/index.php https://www.stappenmethode.nl/en/index.php

83457 5y ago

Chess puzzles?

desmosxxx 5y ago

Jeremy Silman's books are great for beginner/intermediate strategy after they've read a few of the total beginner books. How to Reassess Your Chess & The workbook Complete Book to Chess Strategy are both good. They might be a little heavy for a 7 year old but with some guidance I think they're doable. I think I read them when I was 9 or 10 and didn't have any trouble. Chess.com lessons are really good too and might even be a better place to start. chess master 10 had a great walkthrough tutorial on strategy by josh watzkin that i did around that age, if you can find a copy of it

billforsternz 5y ago

The canonical answer to this question is "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" by my good friend GM Murray Chandler.

interblag 5y ago

"Winning Chess Tactics" by Yasser Seirawan might be a good sweet spot. It has some board positions and uses a bit of notation, but it's still pretty easy to read and is a natural step up from intro play into basic tactics...

mongol 5y ago

I remember a good book by Bobby Fischer. Could be "Bobby Fischer teaches chess". Learned me how to attack in a way no other book did.

lupire 5y ago
BFTC is for the absolute beginner. It's mostly mate in 1/2/3 puzzles. (And it's not "by" Bobby Fischer. It just licensed his name. The book is famous for being the first chess book with diagrams typeset by computer.)

dan_mctree 5y ago

This seems to be a trend in general. Books or instructional videos are usually either made for people who are assumed to know basically nothing, or people who can be assumed to already know everything. I find it makes self guided learning very difficult in almost any field