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Your Child's First Tournament Why chess? There are several benefits in chess for youngsters. They include improved focus and attention span, and leads to better grades. Chess promotes logical thinking and problem solving. It also teaches one to accept the consequences of their actions, and builds sportsmanship. Also, chess provides a constructive alternative to video games and advertising driven mass media. Is She Ready? Before attempting tournament play, your son or daughter should know all the rules of chess, including castling on both sides, pawn promotion and en passant captures. She should have at least a few months experience playing chess, but she doesn't have to be the best player around. She should show an independent interest in the game. She should understand the importance of losing and winning graciously. And she should have the ability to stay with the activity for a full day, at least for our tournaments. Some scholastic tournaments are only a half day, and this is an easy introduction. These all go to make an enjoyable experience for herself and others. If she is lacking in any of these areas, it might be better to wait before playing in competitive tournaments. Some kids as young as five or six are good tournament plays. Two or three years more and most kids are mature enough. Types Of Tournaments Tournaments can be rated or unrated. Ratings are an official indication of a player's strength, and are administered by the United States Chess Federation. USCF membership is required to enter a rated tournament. Rated tournaments tend to be more formal, serious and competitive. Unrated tournaments are more casual and are often run by school clubs. Our regular tournaments are always rated. Scholastic tournaments are exclusively intended for children, under the age of 18 and high school or lower, and are usually organized by age or grade. Many parents only take their kids to scholastic tournaments. But it can be hard to find scholastic tournaments during the summer. Scholastic tournaments usually have fairly short time controls, which is appropriate for beginners. Open tournaments such as we run have no restrictions on age. While our events have lots of adults, we often have plenty of children too. In a Swiss tournament players are paired based on their scores, and it's likely your child will play some opponents whose rating is much higher or lower than his, especially in the early rounds. Many tournaments have separate sections for different classes of players. Until a player has a rating, they should play near the bottom of the classes. The First Tourney 1) The playing room environment must be quiet during game play, but can be hectic right before the games start. There should be no talking once the round begins. Spectators, whether parents or players, are allowed to watch other people's games, but should never make any comments in the playing room. In general, consideration of others is the simple rule. 2) Games must be played with a clock. This can often intimidate newcomers, so it's a good idea to expose them to clock play before the tournament. Beginners, especially youngsters, often forget to hit the clock after their moves. For beginners, the Tournament Director (TD) can remind your child about this if he notices it, and we can ask her opponent to please remind her as well, but we can only do this for young beginners. It is ultimately the players responsibility. If the clock runs out, that player loses the game by forfeit. But beginners usually play too quickly anyway, and clock forfeits are rare. 3) Both plays are required to write down their moves as they are played. We will waive this requirement for youngsters, so please tell us if your child doesn't know chess notation or would find score keeping difficult. However, in the long run, any serious chess player must know notation, and we encourage them to learn. 4) The TD is there to help. Either the child or her parent can request the TD's assistance at any time. Parents should do this for their child discretely. The TD can then decide what if any action to take. 5) Equipment is usually available if you don't have your own, but please bring equipment if you have it. There are standards regarding the pieces, and sets that are too small or too large, oddly shaped or colored, cannot be used. For example, glass pieces are prohibited, as are Simpsons or South Park sets. Digital clocks are preferred, but others are acceptable. Beginners don't need to buy clocks, and it's often better to wait on this purchase, are good clocks aren't cheap. Between Games It can be a long day for a child. In between their own games, players can watch others, or relax in the hallway, or go for a walk outside. Unfortunately, we do not have access to the hotel pool. We suggest parents bring other activities like a Gameboy or activity books to occupy their child. It might also be a good idea to bring some snacks. After The Event We generally award a ribbon to every new child who plays in our events. And in a Quad with several new players, someone will surely win their first time. We will give any cash prizes to the parent if you wish. Trophies or plaques are often awarded as well. In a Quad, half the players win something, so your child might be one of them. As a parent, you can do a lot to support your child's interest in chess, even if you don't play yourself. Encourage your child, even if they lose. Winning is good, but a well played game can still be lost sometimes. Focus on the accomplishments before the loss. First time players might not win any games, but even competing seriously is a big accomplishment for a child. Review the game with you child after they're rested. You can often ask a club officer or another player to go over the game with your child outside the tournament room. This lets the child know other people take them seriously at chess, and it can be a great motivator. Most older players would be capable of helping a beginner this way. Look into other chess resources in your area. We play at the Borders Bookstores in Crystal Lake every week. There are chess camps in the summer, and group lessons for children in our area. There may be a chess club in your child's school, and if not you can ask for one. There are lots of resources online too, such as you can find on this website. |
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