Learning Chess, Scientifically

Here is a my approach to teaching Chess (for those who are familiar with the basic rules and are comfortable moving pieces accurately and playing a full game) - it is based on the renowned Russian method.

Basics/Starting Chess (L1)

Firstly, it is very important to know the rules of the game clearly and exactly. This includes castling, check and mate, stalemates, drawing rules, en passant etc.

Then, it is crucial to get a proper understanding of the movement of the pieces - pawns, knights, bishops, rooks, queen and the King! Not just the obvious moves but the intricacies and the board geometry. 

Also, it is important to get an introduction to the notation of the chessboard and the language of chess. 

[Of course, a more detailed understanding is required as you go to the next level L2]

For kids of 5-6 yrs age, this this is best taught by the parents themselves as the kids do not yet have the ability to remain focused beyond 10-15 mins in a class session. 

When two beginners play, there are huge number of mistakes on both sides - pawns, pieces, even Queen is left undefended and sometimes not noticed by the opponent. Even after winning a Queen or Rook of the opponent, the game goes seesaw as a beginner is unable to convert a winning advantage (even a Queen plus)  into an actual win. Beginners may not know how to checkmate - a lone king may also survive long against Queen plus King of opponent.  

So, at the L1 level, I recommend:

• To get a good vision to notice when the opponent's pieces are undefended or when your pieces are left undefended. This allows you to go up in material against the opponent 

Good practice with puzzles/positions in noticing and doing these free captures (where one side can simply win a piece or a pawn for free)

• To know the basic technique of winning when you have massive material advantage 

Either by direct checkmate or by promoting your pawn to a Queen and then checkmating

• Understand the basic mating patterns and start to notice them on the board

Practice with "Mate-in-1" positions - where in a give position, you are to play and checkmate the opponent in 1 move

 

For studying chess systematically at your own pace, I wholeheartedly recommend the apps and courses from ChessKing - a company founded by strong Russian GMs and IMs. It has top quality content, beautifully organized and presented for self-learning and also allowing you to measure yourself at every step along the way.

(By the way, It is not just for self-study. I use ChessKing extensively for both myself as well as for my students. You will find me as a Trainer on ChessKing. If you are interested, you can request to become a student there. When you are a student, I can see and monitor the progress as well as give out assignments and tasks) 

The basic course for L1 level (and ok for Kids beyond 6 years to even adults for that matter) is Chess School for Beginners

I will write a separate page on how to use the ChessKing courses effectively and all the features and capabilities and the way to utilize these. These will become important as you go to level 2.

The wonderful thing about ChessKing is that they have the exact same course available on both mobiles  (android as well as iOS) as well as the web-browser (chrome, safari, IE whatever). And once you login and link your id, you can play and continue from any of the 3 and see the progress updated on all channels.  

For teaching to even younger children, Check this post about  Chess kindergarten or teaching Chess for toddlers