Do I take a dive and let my son win?

[SunnyD]

My son is 9 years old, he likes playing chess. I'm not great at it, and he's no Bobby Fisher, but it generally doesn't take me more than a handful or two of moves to set him into mate. I've usually taken half his pieces within the first 10 moves or so.

But the thing is he's really interested in chess... I feel like I'm crushing him and one day he'll stop coming back to play. But at the same rate he is so inexperienced and impulsive that I don't know if letting him win one would end up making things worse in the long run for him.

And no, I'm not pushing him to become better or competitive with chess or anything like that. If it's something he likes, I'll support him. If it's just a phase... so be it.

 

[pstylesss]

Just don't be so competitive. Make some dumb moves and see if he sees them. Coach him along. You don't have to stomp him to the ground every game but you also don't have to rollover either.

 

[KillerCharlie]

Explain why his moves are bad and help him out.

 

[her209]

You are setting him up for fail.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
Explain why his moves are bad and help him out.

That's the problem, in chess you can't always tell a move is going to be bad until after it has been made, and sometimes not for another few moves down the line.

 

[Baked]

Murder him until he learns to raise up and beat your ass. If he doesn't, well, then you know he's not cut out for this.

 

[the unknown]

What worked for me when I was a kid was I could sometimes maybe beat my mom at chess, and I would play my dad and would almost never win. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if it was intentional. But it definitely helped me to play better and also keep me wanting to play.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: her209
You are setting him up for fail.

Elaborate please? Am I setting him up to fail by beating him every match, or setting him up if I take a dive?

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: her209
You are setting him up for fail.

Yep people only enjoy things they are good at. Let him win a couple times and maybe find a website where he can learn to play chess well.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: her209
You are setting him up for fail.

Yep people only enjoy things they are good at. Let him win a couple times and maybe find a website where he can learn to play chess well.

I bought him a book on chess for Christmas to help him understand the game, moves and strategies a bit more (he loves reading, and it will do a far better job than I ever could sadly).

When I was a kid I would hate playing pingpong with my father because I would never win. It frustrated me, but made me want to play more and get better. That's where I sit with my son - I feel like he may give up, or if I let him win he may become content and lose the desire to improve. That's why this is a hard question.

 

[Cuda1447]

Handicap yourself, without completely letting him know. Its good for him to lose, but not every time. Teach him to compete. But make it challenging for yourself as well. Neither party gets better if there isn't competition.

 

[Greenman]

Coach him. When you see him making a bad move tell him why and show him a better one. Once he starts to improve is when you want to take dive, just don't make it obvious. The idea is to let him see that it's not imposable to beat you. Make the lad earn it, and soon enough he will be beating you.

 

[PHiuR]

drink 12 beers then pkay your son.

 

[KK]

This is why you should never play chess on the computer on easy mode. You don't learn anything. Play against the computer on expert mode, and soon you will be beating the fuck out of the monitor.

 

[rudeguy]

I have a unique theory on parenting. Its not our jobs as parents to protect little Johny and Suzie. Its our job to get them ready for the world.

So yes, kick his butt. But get him a chess tutorial for the computer or play some practice games with him.

 

[Perknose]

There are a few extreme basics that will help you help your son.

-- Territory. Control the middle.

-- Your pieces all back up each other, often redundantly.

-- Defensively, mostly we duffers clear out one side to castle. This protects your big gay King. Google castle, chess.

-- Tempo. You are also operting in the dimension of time. To be one move ahead is to have everything. Players will therefore sacrifice a piece (without getting the same value in return) in exchange for tempo and position.

-- One learns best while playing . . . controlling the longest, center diagonal with your bishop, which you can do from within your little defensive castle.

-- Also, always have your pawns supporting each other. Again, focus on the middle.

These are just some random basics, but it sounds like they might help you improve your son's game. Whenever you're comfortable, you can make each game a learning experience where he gets to see how an alternative move would have been stronger.

The game has levels and levels and levels. We don't even play the same game that Bobby Fischer did.

 

[TridenT]

Never lose, ever.

You are otherwise setting him up for failure.

It's impossible to win against the computers on expert, I think. They are set to always win.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Wy cant you just do a few bad moves per game, and see if he spots them? Expose your queen for example, and see if he spots it and let him take the piece. Mix it up, the next game lose your knights. Don't let him beat you, but give him something to play for. Kicking his ass in ten moves will probably lead to frustration.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: PHiuR
drink 12 beers then pkay your son.

I can see you already did

 

[CatchPhrase]

Let him win one out of five or he will quit. Feed his ego a little bit.
He is nine, his brain is not developed to understand the complexities of strategic planning.

 

[Leros]

Play down a bit so he has a chance. Play so he can win 1 in 3 or something like that. As he improves, kick up your game to keep the 1 in 3 wins going. Maybe play one game where you go all out, so he can see his growth.

 

[CPA]

Hell no. I never let my kids win by my own hand. They win, but from through their own efforts - my girl included.

 

[DrPizza]

I've taught quite a few younger kids in middle school how to play better. You either need a really good memory of chess positions, else learn how to record games (not too difficult to learn). Then after the game, you can replay the game move by move & tell him exactly why you made certain moves & why certain moves that he made hurt him.

Last year, I played against a really weak kid who basically only knew how the pieces moved. By the end of the year, I would have put money on him to be able to beat any of the kids in the high school. One of the things I did which helped both of us was to handicap myself. Since he pretty much sucked, I played without my rooks or queen. I'll tell you what - it's a lot harder than you'd think to play with only you pawns, knights, and bishops. Very challenging. What made it easier for him to learn was that he only had fewer of my pieces to concentrate on. Granted, it really didn't help him learn to attack, but it made him a much better player quickly in learning how to avoid forks, etc. After a while, he was able to beat me 1/2 the time under those conditions. So, I added a rook. Then another rook. Then, I added a queen & removed a rook. Finally, by the end of the year, I usually played him with all of my pieces. If he made a really bad blunder, I'd point it out to him and have him make a different move. (He never afforded me the same luxury ) But, I believe he beat me fairly 2 or 3 times (as a result of blunders on my part.) The key: he did learn some offensive strategies - if I made any of the mistakes that he had made quite consistently in the past until he learned to avoid them, he recognized them quickly and took advantage of them. He learned to show no mercy, and he learned to keep his eye on the prize - not to get distracted by just taking pieces.

i.e. how many people have been kicking someone else's butt in chess, playing care-free and not thinking seriously about the game, and like an idiot, leave their castled king behind a wall of pawns, only to be check-mated by a rook. Those are the types of mistakes that are worth making intentionally on occasion; of course, don't point them out until after the game. "If you had done this, you would have won."

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: ZeroIQ
Just don't be so competitive. Make some dumb moves and see if he sees them. Coach him along. You don't have to stomp him to the ground every game but you also don't have to rollover either.

:thumbsup:

this. observe if he's picking up on your mistakes. If you keep making mistakes, and he still can't win...then give up on your son.

 

[JTsyo]

When I play a game with a beginner, I allow them to take abck moves that reconginze as a mistake within a turn, just so the game doesn't have to end quick and they can learn as they go.