My nephew wants to learn to play chess
 

I wasn't sure where the hell to post this....Chess is a game, so...

My nephew wants to learn to play chess, but he doesn't want me to teach him. I offered him to take him to the library to find something, but this generation and books....sheesh :p

Anyway, I've found a few things, but wanted to know if anyone out there had some suggestions or preferences about specific programs to help the little guy out.

Anyone out there a master of the chess board? How did you learn?

I cannot remember how I learned. It was back in grade school, likely from my older brother or father, but I am not certain. I am told the Chessmaster series of games are excellent. There's a Gameboy version as well. But like I said, I learned the good old fashioned analog way.

There are serveral $10 computer chess games available...you could probably find these at Wal-Mart or more likly a Game Stop. The rules for chess are really simple....once he gets the hand of it, he will have no problem.

The Chessmaster series has a very in-depth tutorial.

http://www.chesskids.com/

http://www.chessopolis.com/tutorials.htm

My kid brothers used to love the old battle chess game on pc, although it DOES defeat the purpose of the game when they execute moves just to see the resulting battle between the two pieces. Queens don't often move into a pawn's killzone, but with them at the helm...

I learned at around 8 from a friend who knew how to play. We didn't quite have all the rules down (For some reason we though the queen could move like the knight as well as her other moves), but we were both playing with these wrong rules so it wasn't really a problem. If he has any friends who know how to play then I'd encourage him to play it against them, it'll be more fair than against any reasoned player or a computer. And besides it's more fun with real people.

I have chessmaster 9000 and it's very good for teaching novices and experienced players on how to play, there are indepth lessons that range from beginner to expert and they are very good also it's got things like blunder alert and a mentor. There is a Chessmaster 10 available now so if you were gonna get a program to teach then I would pick that. I learned how to play chess the old fassion way someone taught me and i improved by playing others.

My uncle showed me the game. He never 'taught' me. He beat me. All the damn time. That alone made me look for other avenues of strategy, techniques, and tricks to get the upper hand in our next game. I'll kick his ass at Starcraft, but he'll still give me a run for my money on the 8x8 field of battle.

Don't teach him. Play with him.

Well, play with him yea.. but it's no use if they don't know the basic rules. I remember when my grandma was over for a bit and i asked her if she wanted to play chess. She didn't actually know how herself and i was pretty much doing her moves. Not much fun for either of us i guess. But that's on the other side of the scale and probaly not much help to the situation..
If your going to teach him, make sure you teach him the right rules too. It gets a bit annoying if he goes to play chess with his mates and people don't know which rules are correct. I didn't find chess books very helpful, but probaly because i wasn't really a beginner when i read the. I think the best approach is you telling him what each piece does and then play with him, giving him hints on how to play and let him work on from there. Having a novelty chess board helps too. (Although i wouldn't recommend the drinking one :) )

I played all through school and I say that books were very helpful. But since he is against that, I would suggest the video games also. The latest chessmaster games have pretty large archives of games and tutorials. I don't know how old he is, but if he just wants to learn the basics the video games are great.

They have to learn the rules first, and which way the pieces move, but after that, then playing is the only way to learn. Both my nephews (10 and 8) play, the 8 year old, I still have to play pretty badly with, the 10 year old, now thinks several moves ahead. He's gotten quite good.

they have a chess video game, for play station or whatever system they have, but much prefer playing live.

You should check to see if your town or surounding areas have a chess club at a library, YMCA, boys/girls club. I voluteered at one in high school and taught kids that were around 11 how to play chess. Computer games are ok because it enforces the games rules but nothing can really subsitute the feeling you get holding the peices in your hand. The experience is not the same.

Pretty much just teach him the way the peices move and then play, play and play. The Chessmaster series is quite good as others have mentioned.

Playing is the only way to learn, whether its a computer or person. My advice is to go for the person, because everybody, whether they have ever played Chess or not, all have their own skill levels, and makes it easier to work your way up the skill-level chain at a decent pace. Basically, I played my friend every Latin IV study hall we had in college, he beat me 3 times out of 4 at the beginning of 2nd semester, but by the end of the year, I could beat him 4 out of 4 times. Just a LOT of playing. :)

Thanks.

I had a few leads before I posted, I just wanted to see if anybody had anything interesting. You did. :)

Yeah, I'll certainly be playing with the kid. He just didn't want me to "teach" him how. I'm pretty good (meaning I beat most of my yokel friends consistently) and could certainly try to teach him. I offered, but he refused. I just think he doesn't want to play me until he's confident enough. I can respect that. He's trying to learn on his own and show me how well he's done.

He did the same thing with the Yu-gi-oh cards. We both bought a starter pack and some add-ons, but he didn't want to play me until he learned how to play himself.

Yes, the new Chessmaster, which is available for PC and for PS2/Xbox - the PC version is $30 and the console versions are $20 - is a very, very good chess teacher.

It has a fairly in-depth tutorial, even going into teaching standard openings, and has a fairly good set of AI opponents with whom you can play. It tracks your progress and suggests which opponent you should play next. Each persona even has their own personal quirks, which is really neat.

You can even check out historical games of chess, with commentary and notes on the moves and the strategies. There's a lot to learn there.

But for me, the neat thing about it is the fact that it works over Xbox Live. I haven't been on in a while, but there's a neat little community springing up over there.

I would still play with him in person, but when you can't get the time together, it would be worth it for both of you to get in some Chessmaster time. It's pretty cool.