MOST young chess players choose the wrong approach and fail when it comes to learning and improving chess tactics.
This is according to Mndeni Njapha, who teaches chess in public and private schools around Durban, as the globe observes International Chess Day, today, July 20. Njapha, who started playing chess at six years old, teaches young people to play and become better at the sport.
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In commemoration of this day, Njapha shares tips that parents can use at home to improve their children’s chess tactics. Chess has been shown to help children improve their test scores in a variety of subjects, including maths, science, and reading.
“Children need to focus when playing chess. Improving your child’s chess tactics is one of the fastest ways to raise his or her rating. First, you will need to understand the basic rules of the game. This includes learning the pieces’ names, their properties and movement, their value and how each piece captures,” he says.
Njapha alluded that this also includes learning about the chessboard and how to set up the pieces, and learning about the meaning of check and checkmate.
Here are Njapha’s tips to improve your child’s chess tactics:
- Solve chess problems or puzzles without moving the pieces.
- Memorise two to four famous games.
- Get your child a qualified chess coach or get him or her into a chess club.
- Make sure your child plays lots of chess games and studies basic endgames.
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