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The Q & A WayBruce Pandolfini
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The Eyes Have It Question Chess players, especially young chess players, appear to be getting stronger these days. Ratings are going up and more children are being introduced to the game every year. Obviously, there are signs suggesting when youngsters have a flair for chess (I am certain there must be quite a few). In your experience, is there any one thing, above everything else – one definite measure or trait – that a young person does or shows that may hint at a talent for chess? I am guessing that you may have picked up something through the years that is a barometer of later performance. Are there any signs you can pick up as you are sitting across from a young talent, watching him move? Marsden Calisher (Canada) Answer Surely, chess talent expresses itself in a variety of ways. Some youngsters are born fighters. They love to play and they thrive on competition. It helps if they are positively aggressive, able to act with confidence, with a tough skin resistant to pressures and countermeasures. Young chess talents tend to be resourceful and resilient. When they are losing they often find a way to stay alive, clawing their way back into the contest. But there are other attributes to look for as well, most noticeably, sheer love of the game. It is not likely a child will do well in something if he or she hates doing it. If I had to fall back on any one indicator, it would be eye movement. Chess is a game of spatial relations and what a youngster is thinking is reflected in the eyes and on what they focus. Indeed, one way I sometimes win children over is by telling them what they are thinking as I follow their eyes darting from one sector to another. They may even feel as if I am reading their minds, which thereafter leads them to pay careful attention to everything that goes on. Question In the public school my two children attend – one son is eight and the other is six – the chess teacher insists that new players learn notation fairly early. I am the parent coordinator. The teacher also wants them to record their games. Both my kids find this to be a problem. They feel it distracts them and then they leave their pieces unprotected and lose. They get so involved in recording the moves right that they forget about everything else. To me, this approach is wrong. Students should concentrate on learning the principles of the game. Notation is trivial and unimportant. It is just a form of mathematics, as many mathematicians would agree. It is not what the game is about. It seems to me that teachers who place big emphasis on the writing of moves do so because they do not know enough about the game. He also insists that they not move the pieces. This is very dispiriting to their emotional well being. What do you think? Don't you agree that notation should be taught much later? Also, don't you think it can be helpful to move the pieces now, waiting until one becomes comfortable with notation? Answering my points in order of their appearance, do you agree with me or with him on most of those points (based on what he has said)? For a concerned parent, maybe the answer is just a matter of finding another chess teacher. Dan Bahnsen (USA) Answer I don't even know the man, or what he really thinks, and yet I agree with him (based not on what he has said but on what you have said). I will try to address your "points," but I probably won't do it in order of their appearance because that would require that I read your question again. I concur with you, that understanding the game's principles is more important than recording the moves. But not every chess teacher refers to notation as trivial, nor do they perfunctorily describe it as being a form of mathematics. If you remember the words of the mathematician G.H. Hardy, you will recall that, though he did describe chess as being trivial mathematics, he said nothing about chess notation. One reason a teacher would have a student learn notation right away is to get it out of the way, so to speak, so that it is no longer a roadblock to learning. That is, once the squares can be identified and referred to quickly, it becomes much easier for the teacher to convey moves and ideas without having to play the moves on the board. Moreover, many chess concepts are linked to specific squares and lines, so it makes sense to assimilate a convenient way to designate them as expeditiously as possible. But let's cut to the quick. For a concerned chess teacher (paraphrasing what you have so wonderfully provided), maybe the answer is just a matter of finding another parent coordinator. Question I can understand why chess books offer tactical problems. They happen in real chess games and practicing them could enable one to play better. But I do not appreciate composed chess problems, mates in two or three moves, which have no relation to real chess games. Granted, they are sometimes beautiful and they stress aesthetic principles, so they have a place, but probably not for instruction. There are many top composers of chess problems, such as Sam Loyd on those checkmates. Then there are the endgame studies, which do not always end in checkmate but have some brilliant aspects to them. I also wonder how useful it is to study them. I do not expect that you can resolve all of this here, and I am not asking you to do that. I wanted to know something else, if you admired a composer in particular. Or if not a composer, let us say someone who collects these studies and presents them for public appreciation. Can you suggest someone for me to follow up on? Gerald Hausner (Panama) Answer The very best of those composed problems and studies can have great instructional value, even if they do occur much less often than the motifs filling out the general body of standard tactics. What is more, the best of those compositions are exquisite, surprising, simple in the end, and beautifully pleasing. I don't know that I have a favorite composer. I like many of them. One person whose work I have always admired, who doesn't always get the credit he deserves, is Robert Brieger. He has done some nice stuff and I have enjoyed reading his material very much. Question You have taught chess for many years. Apparently, you specialize in private chess lessons, but you also have given many chess classes to groups of children. I am trying to teach chess in classrooms at the elementary level, though I am having some trouble. Frankly, I cannot always get control of my classes. I am not a strong chess player, but I love the game and enjoy teaching it. I have always admired the really good teachers who seem to gain control of a classroom almost immediately. Can you recommend something I could do that would help me gain greater control of a classroom of young people? I would be thankful for any helpful advice you have to offer. I also want to say that I read your column and look forward to it. Sandra Meyers (USA) Answer I have always wondered myself about the same thing, and I have said as much in previous columns. How is it that some teachers exude command while others are enveloped in chaos? My experience tells me that the master classroom teachers take a variety of steps in securing classroom management. But if there were one thing that seems to stand out, it would be this: the best teachers learn the names of their students promptly and say those names as often as they can. That technique establishes a sense of identification that makes each student feel the teacher is truly speaking to him or her individually, and not solely to the classroom at large. Once that personal relationship seems to be in the air, all the students respond to the teacher's requests as if no one else is in the room. It is a remarkable talent, and almost all good teachers appear to be armed with it. So that is it: almost effortlessly, they learn the names and use them over and over. You seem to be a concerned teacher. If you are not doing this already, it is not too late to try. Question I read in one of your book introductions that you strive to present examples in groups, though you did not give an illustration of what you imply in that particular book. You also said something about using composed problems now and then, as well as typical tactics. Even though the situations are unreal, you said that sometimes the compositions may offer useful motifs. Could you give an example of your examples? Thank you. Harry Goldsmith (USA) Answer I am not certain to which book you are referring. I have said lots of things through the years, much of which I can't remember, and some of which I would like to forget. Generally, I aim to present problems in blocks of two, three, or four, unless I can't find related examples to serve my purposes. For the most part, there are enough problems out there to satisfy practically all needs. In many of my presentations, though not all, the first example would be the simplest and the last one would be the hardest. But sometimes it is not a matter of degree of difficulty. Rather it may have to do with taking a root concept and developing it to bring out related themes. At other times it might require taking the same position and turning it around. I am not going to give an extensive set of examples here, but just to provide an idea of what I mean, consider the following two positions. In both examples White to play and mate. Nonetheless, the second example is really the first example. It just emphasizes the other side of the coin. White to move
White to move
Or, if I want to play with promotion themes, I might employ something like the following three positions. The first problem requires promotion to a bishop; the second to a rook; the third to a queen. The truth is that I often rely on chains of examples that please me. I figure if I get excited about the material, it will carry over to the students who will get excited in turn. Well, that's the idea. White to play and mate in two moves
White to play and mate in two moves
White to play and mate in two moves
Question of the Month In teaching a young student, how early should notation be introduced? © 2012 Bruce Pandolfini. All Rights Reserved. The Q & A Way is based in large part on readers’ questions. Do you have a question about preparation, strategy or tactics? Submit your questions (with you full name and country of residence please) and perhaps Bruce will reply in his next ChessCafe.com column... Yes, I have a question for Bruce! A PDF file of this month's Q & A Way column, along with all previous columns, is available in the ChessCafe.com Archives. Comment on this month's column via our Contact Page! Pertinent responses will be posted below daily. |
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