It’s June, 1978. The Philippines are about to bear witness to a clash of titans. Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi, two of the greatest chess champions of all time are set to play for the title of Grandmaster. The stakes are high and the tensions higher. Both teams are on their guard. Korchnoi has brought his own personal chair. Karpov’s team request it be searched, lest Korchnoi try to smuggle in prohibited items. The chair is dismantled and x-rayed. Nothing is found, and the games can commence.
It’s the second match, 25th move. Karpov receives a blueberry yoghurt from his team. He did not request any. Korchnoi’s team protests. They say it could be a code; instructions encrypted by yoghurt colour. Karpov’s team could be instructing him to offer a draw or play more aggressively. It’s all a blueberry flavoured ruse, an underhanded trick to steal the title. The games are stopped and arbitrators brought in. Though Korchnoi’s team later suggest it was only a joke, someone took it seriously. For the remainder of the Championship, Karpov is only allowed a certain flavour of yoghurt, to be delivered at set intervals.
We may laugh at little stories like this (I know I did), however they underlie a more serious issue: Cheating. Advantage gained through dishonest means. It infects all forms of sport, and chess is no exception. Pieces are nudged to more favourable squares; advice is whispered, through phones and codes. Worse still, it taints even the very top of the chess player hierarchy. Gaioz Nigalidze, grandmaster title holder 2014 to 2015, used a smart phone, hidden in a bathroom, to elicit help from the outside world, during the 2015 Dubai open. Sergey Aslanov did something similar in the 2016 Moscow Open. The list goes on, though the story is the same; players resorting to underhanded methods get ahead.
If this is how adults play chess, how can we expect better from developing children? As a Chesslife Coach, I have personally seen (and reprimanded) kids for unsportsmanlike behaviour, some of which has strayed into the realms of cheating. So what is to be done?
The first thing we can do is ask a simple question: why? Why do kids do it? What compels a child to cross the moral boundary? Everything has a reason, and according Dr Elaine K. McEwan-Adkins, children cheat because:
They feel pressured to win, especially in competitions.
They feel unable to win otherwise.
They feel an overriding impulse to win.
They are influenced to cheat by the behaviour of others.
Now we know the main reasons, we need to know what to do when confronted by a child who cheats at chess. Father Val J. Peter believes in the following method:
Step 1 – Get the facts.
Ask the child about their cheating. Ask them what they did and, more importantly, why they did it. It is important to make sure this happens in a calm and controlled environment. Composure is key. Though the child has indeed done something wrong, they must be allowed to explain their actions.
Step 2 – Work with the facts.
Now that the child has given their reason for cheating, it’s time to take action.
Are the children feeling pressured by competitions? Remind them that winning isn’t everything. Celebrate their participation as well as their triumphs. Let them know that losing isn’t the end of the world. Assure them they have the right to lose, but not to cheat.
Do the children feel inadequate, unable to win by other, more honest, means? Just as before, assure them that winning is not the be all and end all. If they want to become better players, help them to do so. Let them join clubs, give them extra lessons and help them improve their game the proper way.
Do they form bad habits, or have an aggressive impulse to win? Teach them the value of honesty and hard work, earning your accomplishments and not taking moral shortcuts. The best lessons come from personal example. Become a positive role model. Children look up to their parents and will follow their example.
The most important thing to remember in all of this is that cheating, while bad, is not unforgivable. Like any other bad behaviour, it has both reason and remedy. While it is disappointing to discover that your child has engaged in cheating, it is more important to understand why, and help the kids improve their conduct. With some hard work and effort, your child will be spared from a life of cheating, lying and tampering with yoghurt.
As children grow up many of them will seek out and participate in competition sport. This is both a natural and healthy development that should be encouraged. Competition sport boosts our self-esteem, improves our confidence and develops our ability to work in a team. Many schools recognise the value of sport and offer their children a variety of sporting opportunities.
Children, however, require guidance. In almost every school and sporting club, there is a team coach, their job being to teach and to train the players in their team. The importance of this position cannot be understated. Children are dependent on their coaches. They look to them for direction and instruction. It is therefore imperative that the coach for your children be the right man or woman for the job, as your child’s experience in sport will be largely influenced, for better or for worse, by their decisions and treatment of their teams.
So, what do you look for when looking for a coach? How do you pick the good coaches from the bad? There are many things to consider. Some of the most important of these have been compiled just below.
Number One: What Is Your Coach Trying To Accomplish?
Each coach has a different coaching method and personal style; no two are exactly the same. Most coaches, however, can be characterized by how they answer this very simple question: How do you define success?
The coaches who would answer that success is defined by their team winning are often referred to as Transactional Coaches.
The most common traits found in a Transactional Coach include:
Making success the prime motivating factor, with their treatment of the players, parents and game reflecting this;
Focusing their efforts in increasing the skill level and performance of individual players;
Making team related decisions based on what will enhance the team’s likelihood of victory; and
Training children to win. How this is achieved is often a secondary concern.
Transactional coaches are often seen as ‘good’ coaches, because they are able to produce visible results, these usually taking the form of success on the field, winning streaks, trophies and medals.
“Each coach has their own personal style”
There is, however, another popular style of coaching, in which the coach does not see winning or even the sport itself as their primary concern. They see sport as a vehicle for children, not simply to have fun, but to also learn invaluable life lessons and skills. For these coaches, it is more important to inspire change in the player and not simply turn them into better players, but also better people. These coaches are referred to as Transformative Coaches.
Wanting their players to improve in all aspects of life, on and off the field;
Offering the team a role model, in him or herself;
Building a team;
Encouraging Teamwork;
Treating players with respect and dignity, regardless of the outcome of a game; and
Teaching life lessons – how to be humble in victory, courteous in defeat and the value of good sportsmanship.
Transformative Coaches have something of a mixed reputation. While they usually share a good rapport with their team and work hard on fostering a positive environment for their players, they do not always deliver the win that is expected of a ‘good’ coach. In fact, many Transformative Coaches downplay the importance of winning, especially in comparison to things like learning, participating and having fun. As such, Transformative Coaches are sometimes considered to be ‘bad’ coaches because their results do not always translate into wins on the field.
Finding out what your coach values is very important. On the surface, the Transactional Coaches seem ideal, because they promise and can deliver obvious results. However, as we shall find, these may not be the results children are looking for, or even need.
Number Two: What Do Your Children Want Out Of Sport?
When coaching children, we must remember why the child is there in the first place. Whatever our feelings towards competition sport, we must remember that this is ultimately about the children themselves. Why do they engage in sport? What do they hope to get out of it?
A study, conducted by George Washington University, sought to answer this very question. A youth soccer group were posed a series of questions about their participation in competition sport. When asked why they decided to engage in sport, 90% responded that they played sport to have fun. This is, however, a very broad term, and the children were further asked to provide explanations of what they considered ‘fun’ to be. They returned with 81 explanations, which were ranked in order of importance.
To these children, simply participating in the sport in a positive and encouraging environment was seen as the best part of a sporting experience. This isn’t to say that children didn’t at all value ‘winning’ or consider it a part of why they play sport. Winning was considered one part of what makes sport fun. The fact was, however, that ‘winning’ was rated at only 48 in terms of importance. Winning medals and trophies was rated at 67 and getting your picture taken was dead last at 81.
From this we can begin to understand that, for children at least, winning, and all that comes with it, is not a priority. Far from it, in fact. A coach needs to understand this and their treatment of the sport and the team needs to reflect this. If a coach is focused on winning, at the expense of things such as participation and a positive playing environment, then they run a serious risk of alienating their players from their sport.
Number Three: Does The Coach Engage Their Team?
Recent studies are showing a worrying trend: that many children will eventually drop out of youth sport programs. By the age of 13, a massive 70% of children will have dropped out of their sporting programs, with the likelihood of dropping out increasing by a third every year the child remains with the sport. So what triggers this sudden disinterest? Studies have suggested that much of this attitude can be attributed to the coach and their practices. When the coach emphasises that winning is the most important thing about sport, it can promote anxiety and depression for children when they fail.
It is important for a coach to treat their team with respect
Remember, only one team can win in competition sport. If the coach is demanding victory from his kids in every game, the pressure to always win can drive children away. Who wants to work, let alone play, in such a demanding environment?
It isn’t just the pressure to win that drives children from sport, but also a lack of playing time. When a coach is interested in fielding the best team they can, they can neglect or exclude the kids with lesser sporting capabilities. The key motivation for children participating in an activity is that they actually enjoy themselves. This doesn’t mean that coaches should abandon rules or scoring. The kids want to play sport! They want to learn it and become better players. But they also want to do it in a positive and inclusive environment that lets them enjoy it.
In the George Washington study, the same children surveyed in what they wanted out of sport were also asked what they wanted out of a coach. Their top five answers were:
Respect and encouragement
Positive role model
Clear, consistent communication
Knowledge of sport
Someone who listens
Take note that, while the children did want a coach that had knowledge of sport, they did not prioritise a coach that would ‘lead them to victory’. If a coach does not encompass these values, they will not engage the children.
A win-obsessed coach will distance and estrange their players from sport. Children may want to win, but it is not a priority. Having fun, being respected and enjoying your time with the team clearly is; and the attitude of the coach needs to reflect that. If a coach does not do this; their attrition rates can be high, with kids missing out on sporting opportunities as a consequence.
Number Four: Win At All Costs. What Is The Real Lesson?
Transactional coaches may put too much pressure on their players to win
Assuming that your child stands by the Transactional Coach, what can they expect to learn from them? The Transactional Coach acts to improve a child’s performance. In return, they expect the child to win games. This ‘win at all cost’ mentality may drive a child to improve their game, but it also promotes harmful behaviour. Dr Kim Taylor found that the coaches who pressure children to succeed can result in children seeking ‘shortcuts’ in order to improve as fast as possible. These shortcuts don’t simply undercut the merits of hard work, patience and perseverance, but they can delve into unethical and self harming practices.
This was the experience of former National Football League defensive lineman, Joe Ehrmann. A victim of multiple Transactional Coaches, he was often pressured into winning, sometimes using unethical practices. One such coach coerced Joe into knocking out an opponent with a basketball. Joe did as he was told and broke the opposing player’s nose. Though Joe felt ashamed of what he did, neither this nor the injury the other player sustained mattered at all to the coach. He boasted that this was the way the game was meant to be played. His team had won. In his eyes, the end had justified the means.
Dr Alan Goldberg has often spoken out against such coaching methods. In one such report, mention was made of a tennis program that was, outwardly at least, highly successful. The team enjoyed a high success rate and the program was considered one of the best in the nation. The coach was driven to making his team the best. He demanded triumph from his team and would become abusive towards his players if they were, in his eyes, ‘uncommitted’. He forced his team to play even when they were injured, unconcerned that this would make their injuries worse. He became verbally abusive if his players lost a game or questioned his conduct. His players were miserable. Many of them abandoned sport altogether. Those who stayed reported suffering from self-directed anger and anxiety. The coach had impressed upon them they had to win. The pressure to meet this unreasonable demand drove his players to their breaking point.
Under these Transactional Coaches, respect, appreciation and esteem were conditional. To be appreciated you had to win. Nothing else mattered. It is hardly surprising that these coaches and their methods lead to high numbers of dissatisfied children, high mental stress and depression. Your children deserve better than this. A Transactional Coach may be able to make your child’s team the winning team, but the price to pay is simply too high.
Number Five: Lessons Above And Beyond The Field
As we can see, the Transactional Coach, while successful on the field, is not the ideal coach for a growing child. Attention to the needs of the child and their personal development as people, not just as players, is essential and a Transactional Coach simply cannot deliver this.
A Transformational Coach is not an easy coach to find, but is well worth the search. While they may not always be able to deliver victory in competition sport, they can do something so much more important – they can teach children how to be healthier and happier people. By providing a positive environment to learn in and a positive role model to learn from, the Transformative Coach inspires and motivates children to not only develop their talents in sport, but to develop as human beings.
The best coaches foster personal growth as well as skill
As a parent, it can be difficult to find the right person for something as important as coaching your child. The important thing to remember is that the skill and quality of a coach should not be measured by their ability to deliver a win on the playing field. As the previous examples have demonstrated, the price to pay for the ‘winning’ coach can be all too high. It is better to aim for a coach who has their priorities on the betterment of their players, on and off the field and regardless of their individual ability. Those are the coaches that truly succeed.
So, what can you do?
Is your child losing interest in sport? Are they becoming less motivated to attend practice and games? Do they want to drop out? While some children will leave sport for alternate reasons, for others it will be because of how their lessons are being coordinated. Ask your child what happens during practice and how the coach treats them. Ask them why they are leaving or becoming less motivated. Attend a few practices yourself. See how the players treat each other and how the coach treats their team. Above all else, avoid judging the quality of a coach by his or her ability to produce a win. A coach centred on improving the child is far more important. Their results last far longer than any sporting season and are more valuable than any trophy.
Some Final Thoughts!
Here at Chesslife, we believe very strongly in the power of Transformative Coaching. We certainly celebrate achievements and train our students how to play their very best game of chess, but our core values go well beyond what a Transactional Coach tries to achieve. We see chess as so much more than a simple game or a distraction. There is so much that chess can teach us; and we consider it a priority that our trainees get everything they can out of our coaching lessons. We do not simply teach children how to play the game or even how to play the game well, but we teach them how to be better people.
Actually, HuiSi has been with us at Chesslife for over five years, starting her chess journey at the Campbelltown Library where she is now coaching and we are thrilled to have her with us.
HuiSi started playing Chess when she was ten years old. She loved the challenging nature of the game, it’s individuality and the new friends she made (and still continues to make) in her Chess journey.
As you’ll all know, the Chess Club at Campbelltown library has grown from strength to strength. There are always new people joining, new teams being built and more people to compete against. Hui Si still loves playing Chess at Campbelltown and will be part of the secondary team in the Inter school Chess Competition.
“The real highlight was being part of a team for the first time. It made me realise that chess could be a team game, rather than an individual game.”
HuiSi loves to play chess and learn something new every time she plays. She loves the atmosphere and the competitive edge at the chess club, but points out that
“…at Campbelltown it is a very welcoming and friendly environment where people can learn .”
HuiSi is looking forward to helping the younger members of the Campbelltown Chess Club to learn the basics of Chess.
“It’s great to see so many children start chess at such a young age and to be able to help them at the start of their chess journey and see their progress is very exciting.”
Whether you think of chess as a sport or a hobby, it is a readily accessible activity for people of all abilities to participate in. At Chesslife we cater to a wide range of players, including many on the Autism spectrum, whom chess has been shown to benefit. In our blogs we love to talk about the players who have come to chess with different abilities, so this week we interviewed 15-year-old Connor, a regular at our Campbelltown library-based club.
Connor, rated 1495 on chess.com, has been playing chess for four years, at least two of these with us at Chesslife. Through chess, Connor has learnt determination and persistence which has trickled through to other areas of his life including school.
Connor being interviewed by Chesslife Coach Mathew Drogemuller
Connor tells us:
“I plan, at least when I’m older, to keep playing because I might make some friends with it… Every school holidays there’s at least one tournament so I play there”.
“I’ve got no vision in the right eye, that’s completely blind due to glaucoma as a baby. In the left eye I’ve got limited peripheral vision so I can see, I think, quite a bit. But compared to people with usual vision I see quite little”.
The size of the chess pieces assists Connor to play and he has no problem bringing down his opponents with the provision of suitable lighting and adjustment to his chair. Connor is a great contributor to The Chess Centre and chess community.
Connor playing at the Chess centre
Campbelltown students admire Connor’s dedication to the game and at Chesslife we are proud to have seen him grow as a player. His aggressive but cautious play has seen him do well amongst adult players at local tournaments, something he intends to keep doing throughout his life.
Connor admits his favourite part of chess is the competition: “I’m definitely not shy. Other kids at my school did sport and they were always too nervous to take part in competitions. I like playing against other people”.
The team aspect of playing chess at Campbelltown also appeals to Connor: “I like a feeling of competing with other people, so if I could play say soccer for instance, I would like that feeling of being part of a team”.
When we asked Connor what the most important qualities for a chess player are, he told us, “Definitely calm. You can’t be one of those sports people who if they lose they start yelling and screaming. If you win just say, ‘good game’“.
Some wise words from a player who is always growing from his experiences. “If I don’t win, I learn from it”, he said.
Connor at the Campbelltown Library
Chess is an activity that allows students with all abilities and from all backgrounds to socialise and develop their minds through strategic thinking. Everyone should be given the opportunity to play and organisations like the International Braille Chess Association, which boasts over 60 member countries, support participation by students with vision impairment. The organisation regularly sponsors the Blind Chess Olympiad, this year’s event to be held in Macedonia.
Chess set for the blind, using touch to know where what piece is located
Competition and being part of a team are valuable skill sets and are certainly two things Connor receives in plenty when he attends Campbelltown Chess Club’s advanced classes for one hour each week. He readily admits that the community spirit as well as Chesslife’s in depth coaching has allowed him to develop as a player.
“At Campbelltown, it’s organised”, he said.
“I would say the biggest thing is the level of teaching, it is just a lot more in depth. Here it will actually go into how you connect the rooks for example, how to open”.
As for the biggest lesson he has taken away from Head Coach David and the Chesslife team at Campbelltown: “At the beginning I used to move the pawn in front of the rook and I always did that. I didn’t know how to improve. For a while I experimented and I came here and here I changed the opening”.
Connor is on Step 4 Extra in the Step Method and has found the books invaluable in helping him work through difficult positions that come up in his games.
During our interview, we learnt that Connor doesn’t just enjoy the teaching at Campbelltown Library. Chess has helped to shape Connor’s outlook on the game and on life, as it does with many of our students.
“It’s fine to make mistakes, if you lose a pawn or a couple of pawns it’s fine. It just shows you that usually to gain something, to get out of a position, you’ll have to lose a piece. Nothing comes completely for free”.
Connor has a rich life outside of school. He is also a member of the Malacalogical Society of South Australia. He loves to collect shells and learn about ‘benefiting the environment, shell shows, shell auctions and what’s been happening around the world in terms of shell news.’ Connor’s own collection sits between 800 and 900 specimens, many locally bought.
World Wide Cones courtesy of Malacological Society Facebook page
Susanne Wells is one of South Australia’s Under 18 female chess players. Currently studying in Year 11 at Adelaide High School, she participates regularly in both team and individual tournaments.
We stole a few minutes of her time at a recent tournament in Adelaide to ask her some questions about what it’s like to compete in a typically male-dominated sport.
Chesslife: What do you like about chess?
Susanne: I appreciate the logic and calculation in chess. Also, I enjoy attacking and playing aggressive chess.
Chesslife: Who is your favourite chess player?
Susanne: There are a lot of chess players that I admire. Some of them may not be that good on the international stage but they are still exemplars and role models for me.
My two favorite players would have to be Fabiano Caruana (one of the top players in the world) and David Smerdon (an Australian grandmaster).
I also look up to Hou Yifan (who is the strongest female player in the world) and hope to follow in her footsteps.
Chesslife: What do you like about playing all girls compared to mixed tournaments where you play boys and girls?
Susanne: Playing against other girls in the Australian Junior Chess Championship U18 Girls was a rare experience for me. I have only played in four girls-only tournaments in my life and this was the fourth.
Generally, woman’s tournaments are easier than mixed tournaments. I think this is not because girls are generally worse than boys at chess, it is because we have a smaller pool of players. Unfortunately, it seems that less girls take chess seriously than guys.
I prefer playing in woman’s tournaments because I have a higher chance of winning, but I do know that playing in mixed tournaments is better as I learn more. I believe that we learn more losing than winning, even though we all prefer to win our games.
(Photo courtesy of @DaffodilDayChess)
Chesslife: How many girls do you know that play chess, and do you think there is a difference between playing against girls or boys?
Susanne: In South Australia, there are only about 5-6 girls my age that play chess out of school. We all know each other and are a close-knit group of friends. I do also have a team of girls that I am training up for school chess.
I am very lucky to have found a team that takes chess seriously and enjoy it. I give them extra coaching at lunchtimes and hopefully we will get to National Interschool Championships!
Chesslife would like to invite all students from the Campbelltown district, their parents and chess-lovers to celebrate the fantastic performance of the area’s teams in the 2016 Interschool Chess Championships (ICC).
The ICCs are run every year for schools across the country to earn the right to compete in the national finals. In South Australia, Scott Creek Primary School, St Catherine’s Primary School and Nairne Primary School from the Adelaide Hills division have already qualified for the state finals in September held at Prince Alfred College
This has allowed players whose schools did not have a chess club or who were excluded due to their age from participating to have the chance to play in a tournament and be part of chess in South Australia. The Campbelltown Council has been supportive of this initiative from the beginning.
Since then schools such as East Marden Primary School have seen the potential of chess and gotten ‘on board’ by starting their own clubs. Not only did they start participating last year, they also won the C Grade title at the State finals! Seeing more schools come on board is great news for chess in South Australia.
As the Championship draws to a close in 2016 Chesslife would like to once again thank the Campbelltown Council, without whom hundreds of budding young players would be without a club. They have been supporting the chess club at the library and the team entry fees into the Interschool Championship.
We therefore extend an invitation to all participants in the tournament and the Campbelltown area to attend our event, Chess In The Park.
Well done to all participants in the Interschool Chess Championship this year, especially those who played for the Chesslife Campbelltown Clubs and the teams in the Adelaide Hills!
When head coach and Chesslife founder David Koetsier along with Sabrina came to Australia in 2005, they brought more than their Dutch accents and an appreciation of European coffee with them.
Widely used throughout schools and chess clubs in Europe and increasingly the world, the Step Method provides trainers and students with a logical way to introduce chess concepts at exactly the right level for their experience with the game.
Presented in a series of six steps, each with an accompanying series of workbooks, the Step Method introduces chess material in increasing complexity, all the way from beginner’s chess in Step One to master level play in Step Six.
What makes the Step Method so successful at bringing out the best in young kids? The answer lies in the method of teaching, which relies on quality coaches who are familiar with the didactic teaching processes included in the Step Method.
Chesslife coaches, like those that have used the same techniques to develop some of Europe’s most impressive chess talents. GrandMaster Loek van Wely was a student using the workbooks and understand that young minds learn chess in stages.
Spatial skills, for example, come only after players understand the unique value of each of the pieces. In other words, there’s no point learning how to checkmate if you can’t first keep all your pieces safe!
Every Chesslife student completes the same Step Method workbooks , which act as guides on their progress. That way our coaches always know what level their students are at, which topics are understood and where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Parent can use those same methods at home.
The tournament results speak for themselves, with a growing South Australian Junior Chess Community. It is also evident in the classroom where kids can’t wait to use the workbooks in the class and the coaches who have seen the results first hand.
Playing chess has long been known to produce impressive scholastic results. And combined with the method, Chesslife provides students with the great benefits from this proven teaching method.
We may not have Dutch quality coffee, but at least Australia has the Step Method!
We are happy to welcome Sebastian Teagle to the Chesslife team this year. Sebastian is the President of the Adelaide University chess club and manages two teams in the South Australian Chess Association‘s Interclub tournament – here he gives his advice to his students who want to compete at the top.
Sebastian learnt chess, like many of our students, from his parents: “Chess was taught to me by my father when I was very young – maybe 5 years old or so.”
But for Sebastian, the love of the game came from within. “I think chess was first attractive to me because it appeared very simple, I quickly grasped how the pieces moved and learnt some very basic ideas.”
Sebastian now manages both A and B grade teams in the interclub competition at the South Australian Chess Centre.
The Club Captain says that in the decade and a half since he learnt the game as a student at Blackfriars Priory School chess in South Australia has grown a lot.
His goal as a Captain and a Coach is to make sure the quality of chess continues to improve.
“My reason for being a part of the Chess Community in South Australia is that I really love the game, so bringing as many new people into it as possible, and giving people a chance to play competitively or improve themselves is my number one goal. I want to give as many people the opportunity to play chess as possible.”
University exams and assignments keep Chesslife coach Sebastian Teagle busy a lot of the time, and he relaxes by practicing and playing chess.
“I think chess is an awesome aid for academia,” he says. “It forces you to think deeply and concentrate more than you would ever do doing something else.”
“Chess club is also a great time to relax after school, and you barely notice at all how much you focus because of how fun chess is.”
Like the father of the famous Polgar sisters, Sebastian is studying psychology, but he says most of the chess players he knows are studying maths, which he describes as “a curious trend.”
Chess has enriched Sebastian’s life and mind but he says, “It’s not too easy to pin down exactly how chess has helped me cognitively. Studying chess has become one of my past times, having this outlet has been very useful to me for when things get hectic.”
Since joining the Chesslife team Sebastian has discovered the joy of teaching children and “watching how quickly they grow.”
“In under a year many kids who barely knew the rules can start to play complex, strong, chess,” he says, a fact which he attributes to Chesslife’s use of the Dutch Step by Step Method.
“It’s a highly effective way of teaching chess to children,” he says. “Much more similar to a classroom setting, which then gets integrated with playing chess. This is a big contrast to the way I was taught chess, which was sort of being taught loosely without much of a guide.”
Sebastian’s advice for young players is to get as much experience over the board as possible.
“Play a lot of chess. There’s no real good substitute to hours spent at the board in competitive matches. Then after the games you should try to be reflective, find out what worked out well, and what didn’t work out well.”
Later students can benefit from buying chess books and reading articles online.
Welcome to Chesslife Sebastian! We look forward to working with you to raise the level of chess in South Australia even higher.
