How to Teach Chess When You Don’t Know How to Play

Outsource or Learn Alongside Them!

I have a strange obsession with learning things that are challenging for me.  For instance, I’m fascinated with learning how to knit, write html, write period {it was torture for me growing up}, etc.   Today’s tangent was researching what it would take to design my own font… {not sure if I want to tackle that one.} I guess there is just an allure in proving to myself that I can do something that I’m not naturally gifted at doing.

Chess falls into that category.  My brain isn’t naturally wired to enjoy and thrive at thinking through complex steps in playing a game.  I lean heavily into the “intuitive” camp when it comes to games.  Added to this is the fact that I {sort of} flunked geometry.  My mom’s philosophy didn’t really allow for flunking.  We simply went over things over and over and over again until we grasped it.  I don’t think in 3-d and so conceptually geometry was quite a challenge.  Thinking 2, 3 or more moves in advance on the chess board is challenging in an almost Mt. Everest kind of way.

So enter that fateful day when I was sitting down to nurse my second-born and I read a magazine article about the benefits of teaching our children chess.  I was mesmerized even though I realized that my brain doesn’t naturally work in a way conducive to winning a chess game.  I knew that I wanted to find a way someway, somehow to help my boys learn this game.  I was convinced that the benefits of this mental workout, as they flexed their critical thinking muscles, would be well worth the investment.  We have a homeschool chess club in Arizona, but it is a 45 minute drive away, smack in the middle of nap time.  Doesn’t work.  Another friend has paid for her son to take chess lessons at a tutor center.  Again, out of the budget since I now have 3 boys itching to play.  I simply put that desire on the back burner…

So when I discovered the Chess at 3 program, I was intrigued.  This revolutionary program is actually designed to teach children as young as 3 years old how to play the game.  How does it do this when the rules are so convoluted and complicated?  It weaves the pieces and their moves into a mesmerizing story.

Our imaginations were captured from the moment we started reading this story.  We were all laughing as we read about King Fisher, who couldn’t stop eating and King Spasky, the timid king who lives in a castle of pillows.  But all of us will never forget that these kings move sloooooooooowly, one space at a time.  As a mom who has a secret obsession with learning the game, but a mind so cluttered with everything else that I’m doing, this has been a great way to learn alongside them as I teach.

The Magic of a Story

For those of you who have been here a while, know that I’m passionate about books, learning through play and unleashing the imagination.  Stories capture the imagination and help our minds to absorb information in a way that sticks.  It gives us mental scaffolding where we can hang new information and then retrieve it again.  Chess at 3 recognizes this and masterfully uses the power of story to help even very young children sort out the complicated moves of a chess game. And it doesn’t just work for those that are 3…  It is working for this busy mama in her 30’s.

Everything is laid out in a very detailed, conversational way.  The first couple of lessons didn’t even require me to read it through ahead of time.  It was literally open-and-go style.  I have found though that the further we wade in, that it is helpful to read it through in advance.  I’m a pretty competitive person though and it is crushing to watch your five year old legitimately beat you.

Anatomy of a Chess at 3 Lesson

3 Big Ideas ~ Each lesson starts out with giving you, the teacher/parent the 3 main ideas behind the lesson.

Introduction ~ This is mainly for teachers with a class.  Ideas are given for starting the class time.  I appreciated the reminder to keep everything fun and light!

Review ~ A chance to open a dialogue (you are guided every step of the way) to review what’s been previously learned.  My boys LOVED recounting highlights from the previous story.

The Story ~ Oh the funniest part.  My busy, busy boys listened in rapt attention.  Usually, we’d end up reading the story to dad later that day.

Exercises ~ One or two ideas to implement to start moving pieces on the board and begin play.  I liked that there were simple variations to start playing with, say, just the king and pawns.

Summary ~ This section helps you bring home with the kids everything you covered.

I love how the first half of the lessons focus on the basics of the game and how each piece moves.  The last 10 or so lessons tackle different strategies for making good moves.  They are referred to as Secret Missions.  Just as the first half of the book, there is an engaging story to illustrate the principle and then exercises to help put these newly learned principles into practice.

Chess and Character Development

Another benefit of learning to play chess and what this program emphasizes is character development.  Good sportsmanship is a big thing emphasized.  Having 3 very competitive boys, I’ve found it to be so important to teach them how to win well, lose well and enjoy the process of playing.  The last 5 lessons focus a lot how to handle winning, losing and developing courage.

The Only Catch

The only con to this program was the cost.  In fact, while I was so drawn to the idea of using story to teach chess, I almost turned down the opportunity to review it for you all.  The program started out being used in exclusive preschools in New York City – an area where single income budget concerns aren’t on the radar.  But as I started thinking about the fact that it was a comprehensive curriculum that even I could teach to ALL of my kids instead of opting for tutoring, the cost seemed much more manageable.  I believe they are reworking their pricing structure for families, so that might bring it down to a more reasonable amount for budget conscious families like ours.  If the budget isn’t too tight, I highly recommend checking this out!

Be sure to check out the Chess at 3 website!

Click here if you can’t see the video.

Disclosure: Chess at 3 sent me a copy of their program to review.  All views are completely my own.  See my full disclosure policy here.