Category: Chess

If anyone is asked about the history of Chess, India automatically comes to mind. And it is true in a big way. What started as a small board game played by the Kings has grown to be a very popular game that everyone knows about.

The journey and history of Chess have been a colourful one, despite being played on black and white squares. From Murphy to Magnus, Tal to Teimur, or Alekhine to Anand, let’s look at the robust history of Chess. And the training has evolved from learning from books, from mentors, to online Chess Coaching.

Origins

The history of Chess, as believed, goes more than 500 years back by an Indian board game, Chaturanga. It is believed to be the predecessor of the modern game and has been developed ever since. From India, the game moved to Persia and slowly throughout the world.

Modern Chess as we know it can be traced back to the 1800s. Unlike the modern players, Chess in those times focussed on quick and tactical moves and not long, planned, well-thought moves. This is what was called the Romantic era of Chess. This was the era where we saw the development of many major openings, and players like Paul Murphy, Howard Staunton, and Adolf Anderssen dominated the game.

Development

Slowly, the game started taking shape, as we know. The official terms of Grandmasters and World Champions started having a bigger impact and got official status. The first known World Champion title went to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1886. From then on, there were quite a few champions, and the last one in this particular line was Alexander Alekhine.

From then, the official list of FIDE World Champions began, with Mikhail Botvinnik from Russia becoming the first one, thus starting Soviet domination.

The late 1900s

The late 1900s of Chess saw the USSR players take over the world of Chess, with the likes of Botvinnik, Spassky, Tal, Petrosian, Smyslov, and many more, winning all the major tournaments. Success in Chess became synonymous with USSR.

This streak of Soviet players was broken by the American, Bobby Fischer, in probably the greatest and the most well-known Chess championship ever. The Fischer-Spassky 1972, Championship match at Reykjavik, Iceland. This concluded with Fischer as the winner and a hope that the Soviets could be beaten.

Fischer vs Spassky in 1972 World Chess Championship

The Shift

Some of the last legends of the 1900s era were the legendary Russian Grandmasters, Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, till the new age players arrived. They reigned the Chess world for decades and were a household name across the world.

Apart from them, when Fischer came to the limelight, he was regarded as the greatest player of all time. But Fischer stopped playing competitive Chess after the match with Spassky and then forfeited his title later on.

Fischer also contributed 2 huge things to the game that will be a pivotal part of Chess long after his death. He devised the Fischer clock, based on which all the modern Chess clocks are made. These clocks add increment time after every move. He also started a new variant of Chess, called the Fischerandom, which later came to known as Chess 960.

Instating an Official Body

There were many disputes when it came to instating a body of Chess. After all that, FIDE(Fédération Internationale des Échecs or the International Chess Federation) turned out to be the current governing body. There were many attempts right from the year 1914 to form an official body, and they failed many times. And FIDE was finally formed in 1924.

In 1986, Grandmaster Gary Kasparov created the Grandmaster Association, which lasted till 1993. He then started the Professional Chess Association, which reigned from 1993 to 1996 as a competitor to FIDE.

Since then, FIDE has been the sole governing body, conducting Olympiads, World Championships, and thousands of other Tournaments, and is also in charge of the rules and handing out titles.

Modern Chess

Modern Chess has come a long way from the time it started. After Kasparov, Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik and India’s Viswanathan Anand became the legend of the game. Viswanathan Anand became a veteran of the sport by winning a streak of World Championship matches and defending the title for more than 7 years.

His streak was then broken by the current World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, who by many, is considered the Greatest Player of all time. Magnus Carlsen from Norway has successfully retained his title from the year 2013 and has achieved a rating of 2822, which is the highest of all time.

Modern Chess has grown to have many interesting and nail-biting formats to invite a larger crowd. There is not just Classical Chess, but also Rapid Chess (10-60 mins), Blitz Chess (less than 10 mins), and Bullet Chess (Less than 3 minutes).

Players like Anish Giri, Vidit Gujarathi, Hikaru Nakamura, Praggnanandha, Nihal Sarin, Ian Nepomniatchi, etc., are now well-known faces in the games and are keeping the spark of the game alive with their firing gameplay.

Chess prodigies are slowly increasing, ensuring the future of the game is bright. 

Women in Chess:

In the beginning, Women playing the sport wasn’t a usual phenomenon. From that day and age to today, the development has only been upwards. It was only in 1927 that the first Women’s World Championship was conducted, which was won by Vera Menchik.

Now, most of the Chess tournaments are open tournaments, and both men and women can participate. Some of the biggest names and strongest women players of all time include Maia Chiburdanidze from Georgia, Judit and Susan Polgar, Hou Yifan, and Koneru Humpy.

To encourage more women in Chess, there are separate women titles in addition to the usual IM and GM titles like WGM and WIM.

With so many tournaments played worldwide, so many mediums to watch the game, and so many platforms to learn and play the game, it is without a doubt that the Chess fever is just starting and is here to be.

Conclusion

The best way to master the game is to make sure you start early. And if you are looking for the perfect Chess platform for your child to learn the game, then Kaabil Kids is the place to be. With a curriculum curated by Grandmaster Tejas Bakre and his team of FIDE-certified trainers, be ensured with quality Chess training for your kid. The curriculum ensures holistic development with an in-house psychologist that will help your kid grow mentally.

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Which do you think is the most powerful piece in Chess?

The Queen? The King?

The Pawns! Well, everyone has their own perspective and expertise with certain pieces, but if you know how to handle the pawns well, they can wreak havoc and give you a stronghold of the entire Chessboard, and even the most basic Pawn moves can take on Queens and Rooks. And who can forget that Pawns have the ability to change into any piece once they reach the last rank.

And that is why when you start your Chess journey, it is important to observe your Pawn moves and see what’s working and what isn’t. That is why if kids plan to pursue Chess professionally, online chess coaching for kids is a great way to brush up their Chess skills.

So to make the most of the Pawns, it is very important to make sure how you move the first few moves. These moves will ensure your Pawn structure throughout the game.

WHAT IS A PAWN STRUCTURE?

Pawns, unlike other pieces, have the least mobility on the board. And hence to make the most of them, they have to be set in a way that together, 2 or more pawns create restrictions or attacks. The way the pawns are set is called a Pawn Structure.

Pawns are the only pieces that do not move backwards. And hence whatever formation they make are either permanent or long-term structures. So, each Pawn move has to be made with care to ensure even the most basic Pawn moves are effective.

WHY IS A PAWN STRUCTURE IMPORTANT?

• It ensures centre control of the board.
• It restricts the movements of the opponent’s major and minor pieces.
• It helps in creating an attack on the opponent, which later leads to developing the Pawn in the last rank.
• It creates a wall when you want to defend your pieces.

So let us look at a few basic Pawn structures that every beginner should learn about:

1.Isolated D Pawn Structure:The Queen’s Gambit Isolani

This pawn formation comes primarily out of the Queen’s Gambit position and has been a very successful weapon of the legendary World Champion, Gary Kasparov. In this position, the game revolves around the White’s extended D pawn. If Black can capture that Pawn, it will give them a big structural advantage. But if White can extend that further to D5, it can get a great development advantage.

Kasparov is well known for sacrificing the D4-D5 Pawn and then unleashing an attack from his other pieces that pose a great threat to the opponent.

2.Caro Formation

As the name suggests, this Pawn structure is majorly formed with the Caro-Kann opening. It gives both sides a solid structure to play and ensures a long strategic game. With the Pawn on D4, White has a slight edge over the position, and Black has to work throughout the game to try and equalize the position.

There is something for both sides in the position. White with the D4 Pawn has great control on C5 and E5 square. And Black has 2 Pawns on the 6^th rank, ready to prevent any advancement ideas of White.

3.Sicilian Dragon

The formation is so named because the Pawn structure resembles the Draco(Dragon) constellation. White’s most common move is E4, and the Sicilian Defense is the best reply to that move. And in the Sicilian opening, the Dragon formation is an effective way to prevent any D4 ideas which White might implement to gain centre control.

For White, there is a good outpost in the centre and a chance to attack the Kingside. And Black has a chance to fianchetto the Bishop and play with an attack on the long diagonal.

4.Stonewall Formation

Stonewall structure is one of the most popular and common Pawn structures that are symmetrical in nature and results in closed games. In this structure, both E4 and E5 squares are blocked by pieces of both sides; the players approach carefully as to how to take back the control of those squares.

Players have to make good use of their other minor pieces to capture the pawns creating this structure and exchange their pieces wisely.

5.D5 Chain Formation

This chain that usually favours White is majorly formed from the King’s Indian opening. This position arrives when Black tries to attack White’s central Pawn, and instead of capturing it, White extends its D Pawn. This is a closed game where attacks can be seen happening on the opposite side of the board, where each player tries to start the attack before the opponent.

The players fight for space against the other player. White has a slight edge as the D5 Pawn marches ahead as the leader with an army of connected Pawns behind it.

6.E5 Chain Formation

E5 Pawn formation is a mirror image of D5 Pawn formation, where White has space on Black’s Kingside. White extends its Pawn to E5 and takes control of the 6^th rank. Black, on the other hand, tries to capture the leading E5 Pawn and weaken the structure.

Similar to D5 ideas, there is an opposite side attack here as well, and a race as to which side will attack first.

7.Slav Formation

The Slav formation focuses on C file and is formed out of the Slav, Catalan, and a few other openings. This is one of the most common replies to White’s Queen’s Gambit. The position leads to space advantage, and a favourable position for White and Black is left to find counterplay throughout the game. But overall, Black’s position is solid, and there is no immediate threat.

8.Rauzer Formation

Rauzer is a Pawn structure that is formed after the King’s India opening. Apart from the slight imbalances of the C Pawns, the Pawn structure is fairly similar. The reason Black’s C Pawn advanced just 1 square is to control the D5 square and stop White’s Knight from coming forward. And White tries to gain space and control towards Black’s ranks.

There is no conclusive statement that these basic Pawn structures guarantees any sort of win over any side. You have to play carefully and ensure all the right moves in order to make the most of the advantage each Pawn structure has to offer.

The principle to play a game of Chess is pretty straightforward, make all the best moves, and win the game. One slip and all your good moves so far will not matter anymore. But to play safe and ensure a comfortable and solid position, you need to have a solid foundation. And that is where the concept to learn Chess openings come into play.

Chess openings are the first few sets of moves that you play at the beginning of your game. These openings have to be carefully planned and studied to ensure that you have a counter move for every move that the opponent has to make. Hence every beginner has to learn them in the beginning of their Chess journey by either learning through books or taking up online Chess coaching for beginners.

Why Should You Learn Chess Openings?

• It helps you plan your first few moves
• It helps you understand your opponent’s moves
• It ensures you are never in immediate danger and always have a solid foundation
• It helps you take control of the game and gain some advantage
• It helps you avoid traps and tricks
• It helps you have a clear action plan

Terminologies In Chess Openings You Should Be Familiar With

• Development: Bringing the pieces in the game and into action
• Theory: Moves and positions already played by the players or explored by computers. This set of moves exists in databases.
• Novelty: The first move outside the theory. After a set of existing moves, if you play a new move, it is called a Novelty. It may be both good and bad for the position.
• Minor Pieces: Bishops and Knights
• Gambit: Sacrificing a Pawn or some other piece in the beginning for some other long-term advantage

Grandmasters and other titles players are familiar with most of the openings and all the deep lines within them.

As A Beginner, How Do You Learn Chess Openings? Let’s Have A Look

1.Figure Out Your Playing Style

Before you find your preferred opening, before you start delving deep into the kind of moves you will choose to play, figure out what kind of a player you are. There are various Chess-playing styles that include attacking, defensive, positional, technical, tricky, calculative, dynamic, practical, etc. Each playing style is characterized by how the player thinks and how he responds to the moves on the board.

Once you figure these out, it will be easy to narrow down a few sets of openings, which will make it easy for you to learn Chess openings.

2.Find Out A Few Openings You Are Comfortable With

Once that is sorted. It’s time to learn a few openings. And in the beginning, you really can’t expect to grasp all the hundreds of openings that exist. Just narrow down 2-3 openings as White and 2-3 openings as black, and start exploring.

Make sure the openings compliment your playing style and are comparatively simpler for beginners. The best way to approach it is to start playing whatever opening comes naturally to you, then stick to it and start exploring.

3.Trail And Error

Playing the opening again and again will tell you how differently your opening can branch out. And with trial and error, you can get better at it. Let’s say playing Knight at c3 didn’t work in one game. Then try finding an alternate move in the next game. Be consistent, and master the opening.

4.Refer Openings Books

There are a lot of great books that will take you through all the intricacies of all the major openings. This will teach you about the moves and different branches of those openings and how to tackle the same opening if your opponent plays it.

Some of The Best Books To Learn Openings Are

• Modern Chess Openings by Nick de Firmian
• Fundamental Chess Openings by Paul van der SterrenI
• Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan

5.Check Databases And Learn

If you want to undergo deep study about all the different lines of a particular opening, go for some trusted databases and powerful Chess engines. Databases contain all the games that were ever played, and they can bring up specific games and their results for every move played. This can show you which move has brought wins, draws, or losses.

On the other hand, Engines can analyze any given position and showcase the best possible move in that situation.

6.Have A Mentor Or A Coach Help You

A guide is of great assistance when you begin your Chess journey. They help you overcome any hiccups in any openings and teach the best lines for the counter moves. They can also help you in analyzing your games after matches and tell you what could’ve been better.

One of the best online Chess coachings for beginners is Kaabil Kids, which helps kids master openings and understand mid-games & endgames. They have a team of FIDE certified trainers and a curriculum prepared by Grandmaster Tejas Bakre to help kids get a holistic development in the game.

7.Follow Players And Their Games

Like the beginners, Grandmasters and professional players also have their preferred openings. So identify those players, watch their matches regularly, and watch them unfold your opening in the most creative way possible.

While you watch the game, one thing you can practice is to guess the Grandmaster’s next move and their thought process, and this will give you the practice of looking at every position professionally.

8.Implement What You Learn And Have Room For Improvment

If you think you know an opening by knowing a few sets of moves about them, then you are far from right. Don’t skip on any opening without playing it enough or exploring all the possible move combinations. If you start an opening, be completely thorough and comfortable before adopting a new one.

Conclusion

Chess is a game where players are always on thin ice. There have been games where a player has played an incredible opening, got a solid advantage, and lost a game by making just one bad move. A good opening doesn’t ensure a win, but it guarantees a good position, many opportunities to attack, and a safe way to approach the end of the game.

A chess player’s diet is important. Like every other athlete, a chess player needs to be well-fed on a balanced diet of knowledge to reach the next level. And for this, Chess books are a must-have. Even in the age of Online Chess Coaching, books do not take the back seat.

Various Chess books have been written for decades by many masters of the game, and every book serves a different purpose. There are Chess autobiographies of Grandmasters, Chess books for beginners that introduce you to the game, and Chess books that will teach you different stages of the game (Opening, Mid-game, Endgame).

Chess Books May Be Difficult To Read And Follow For Beginners, As They Have Many Chess Notations.

But the best way to go about it is to have a Chessboard set up near you when you sit to read and learn the book or have an online board ready on your phone. Seasoned players have the power of visualization, making it easy for them to understand.

Why to Ready Chess Books

• It improves your Chess knowledge
• It helps you get better at a specific aspect of the game (calculations, tactics, traps, openings, etc.)
• Chess books help you answer the question ‘Why to play the move’ in addition to ‘What moves to play.’
• It takes you through the entire thought process of the player/author of the book.

Want to get started with your first Chess book?

Here Are The Top 10 Chess Books Every Chess Player Should Read

1.Logical Chess: Move By Move By Irving Chernev

Logical Chess is an excellent book recommended by top Grandmasters. It was originally published in 1957 and is still relevant even after 6 decades. It was written by Irving Chernev, a Russian-American Chess author.

Irving showcases 33 instructive games that will teach you why each move is played. The book takes you through the process that starts after you’ve learned the basic moves. This gives you a clear idea of how to approach your games and think while you make your moves.

2.My System By Aron Nimzowitsch

Aron Nimzowitsch was one of the greatest players of his age. Many Chess openings and defences are named after him, the most popular ones being the Nimzo-Indian defence and the Nimzowitsch Defence.

My System is a highly influential book that takes you through Chess theories. It was originally written in 1925 and is divided into 3 parts: ‘The Elements’, ‘Positional Play’, and ‘Illustrative Games’. The book can teach you a lot from Nimzowitsch’s career, as it takes you through about 50 of his games.

3.Think Like A Grandmaster By Alexander Kotov

Alexander Kotov was Soviet Grandmaster and Soviet champion and a distinguished Chess writer. His book, think like a Grandmaster takes readers into the minds of Grandmasters and how they think and calculate during the games.

The book gives you solutions as to how and when to analyze, select candidate moves and different aspects that determine the success of a game. The gist of the book can be taken from its apt title, ‘Think like a Grandmaster’.

4.My 60 Memorable Games By Bobby Fischer

If you know Chess, you know Bobby Fischer. Probably one of the greatest players of all time, all of Bobby Fischer’s games are unique and interesting on their own. In his book, Fischer covers his games from 1957 to 1967. Unlike other Chess books, which covers Grandmaster’s wins, Bobby Fischer also covers 9 drawn games, and 3 losses, as they were equally instructive.

The book was a success among the Chess community and is often considered the best Chess book ever written. 

5.Grandmaster Preparation: Calculation By Jacob Aagaard

Jacob Aagaard is a Scottish Grandmaster and a Chess author with many books in his name. His book Calculation is one of the many books in his Grandmaster Preparation series. In this book, he shows an effective training plan and how to think differently and efficiently to a Grandmaster’s level.

It takes you through different thinking strategies like candidate moves, traps, prophylaxis, intermediates, and many more.

6.Secrets Of Practical Chess By John Nunn

John Nunn is an English Grandmaster and a celebrated Chess writer, publisher, and mathematician. In the book, John Nunn teaches you how players of any standard or playing style can level up their game by making most of their talent.

The topics include how to defend difficult positions, how to study openings when to calculate, how to avoid mistakes, and a lot more!

7.Endgame Manual By Mark Dvoretsky

Mark Dvoretsky was a Russian International Master and a Chess writer. His book, Endgame Manual, is regarded as one of the most instructive books on Endgame by beginners and professional players.

The book is perfect for players looking to master and sharpen their Endgame tactics. It covers all the different Endgame concepts and teaches you how to defend and convert a winning position to a win.

8.Winning Pawn Structures By Alexander Baburin

Alexander Baburin is a Russian-Irish Grandmaster whose book is one of the best references to master Pawn structures. Learning the manoeuvres with Pawns is very tricky, something even computers can’t handle with accuracy.

The book teaches you the different approaches, tactics, and patterns you need to plan to have a solid Pawn structure.

9.Pump Up Your Rating By Axel Smith

If you are taking up Chess on a professional level, it becomes all about numbers, ratings, and titles. Axel Smith, a Swedish Grandmaster, in his book Pump up your Rating, helps you increase your titles and reach for professional ratings.

He does this by covering all the important aspects of your game and giving a peek into both the technical and psychological aspects of the game.

 10.My Great Predecessors Vol.1 and 2. By Garry Kasparov

Gary Kasparov is undoubtedly the most well-known name in the Chess World and one of the greatest players to play the game. The series, My Great Predecessors, has 5 parts and covers some of the legends of the game that existed before the Kasparov Era.

Volume 1 and 2 talks about the earliest champions of the game, including Paul Morphy, Steinitz, Capablanca, Mikhail Tal, Smyslov, and many more.

Conclusion

Chess Books are always a great gateway into the world of Chess and are available to cater to every player’s specific needs. Which is your favourite Chess book?

If you are looking for quality Chess coaching for your kids, then Kaabil Kids is the best Online Chess Coaching platform, to begin with. With a curriculum crafted by a Grandmaster and a team of FIDE-certified trainers, Kaabil Kids ensures a holistic skill development of your Kids.

To get a sneak peek into our teaching methodology and curriculum, attend our Free Demo class and then make the right choice!

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Every major sport has multiple aspects about it that can be mastered. In Cricket, one can master batting, bowling, fielding, or wicket keeping. In football, one can master attack, defence, or goalkeeping. But Chess is all about moves. Just one skill to master over years and years of practice will turn out to be the bridge between a Chess player and a great Chess player.

In every Chess match, the outcome is solely decided by one question. ‘Which player is able to come up with better moves?’. A professional player would always remember lines to some of the most famous and basic openings, and after the first few moves, they get creative and come up with their master moves. Each move is made with utmost precision and by seeing a few moves ahead.

But Why Is It So Important For Beginners To Improve Their Chess Moves?

But Why is it so Important for Beginners to Improve Their Chess Moves

If beginners improve their moves, it ensures them being good at the game, and being good at the game helps them in:

• Having better memory and concentration power
• Having organizational and spatial skills
• Improve time management
• Mental development
• Building self-confidence and better IQ

So, As A Beginner, How Do You Get There? Let’s Take A Look

Best Online Chess Coaching for Beginners

1)Review Your Games

How to improve your Chess moves? By making your Chess moves better! This can happen by analyzing the moves you made and checking if there were better moves in that scenario. It doesn’t matter if you have won or lost your game. If you have lost a game, find out what different moves you could’ve made to win, and if you have won the game, find out what different tactics could’ve won you the game in a cleaner manner. Analyze your game either with a Chess engine or with your trainer to know what you could’ve done better.

At Kaabil Kid’s, after every game, the kids sit with the trainers to analyze and figure out better moves in the positions. This makes them understand the moves better and prevent the mistakes from happening in their other games.

2)Practice Basic Opening Traps

As beginners, learning some opening traps come in really handy. These traps won’t just help you win games but understand what tactics are and how different pieces combine to create an attack on the opponent.

Openings traps are useless against higher rated players, but for beginners, they’re a weapon that can teach you a few different lines about your preferred opening and how to deliver checkmate. So get a few traps in your daily playing routine, and understand the moves a little better.

3)Have A Few Steady Openings Prepared

Every Chess player has their own preferred opening. But while beginning, it’s very tough for a player to master one opening. They constantly experiment but fail to master one opening that works best for them. Having an opening, in the beginning, helps beginners stick to a few sets of moves and not be overwhelmed by thousands of random moves.

Kaabil Kids helps kids learn a few basic openings that are easy to understand at a beginner level and slowly master as they progress. This helps them build confidence at the start of the game and create a plan in the beginning.

4)Play Every Day

It is impossible to learn the moves of the game from the beginning to checkmate your opponent. A player usually checks out the first few moves of the opening and how to respond to different moves by the opponent, but they have to improvise and adapt after just a few moves. So, the only way to truly master your moves is to play every day and learn through trial and error.

Once you lose a game, you will understand at which point did the game slipped away, and the next time the situation arises, you can play a better move. So regular playing is a big component.

5)Follow Professional  Matches

There is a lot of Chess going around the world right now. There is a new tournament every few days where some of the top Grandmasters battle it out among themselves. The quality of Chess displayed here is something young players and beginners can learn a lot from.

Watch and follow these matches with professional commentary to understand the logic behind the moves and their breakdown. Most of these matches are accessible for free on YouTube and other Chess websites.

6)Learn Some Famous Games

Professional Chess players are well versed with almost all the major games played by the top Grandmasters. Among the millions of games in existence, there are many that are considered classics.

As a beginner, it might be a challenging task to learn all the games, but you can handpick a few classics from your preferred opening and learn some famous games in them.

7)Have A Trainer/Mentor

Having a trainer or a mentor to guide you in your Chess journey can make the learning process a lot easier. They can help you understand the moves, see your moves and analyze them, and give you quality feedback needed to become a better player.

At Kaabil Kids, we have FIDE-rated trainers helping the kids out in their Chess goals and our chief mentor in the form of Grandmaster Tejas Bakre. The team is dedicated to making the Kids quality Chess players and making them ready for all the challenges that may come their way.

8)Challenge Yourself

One of the best ways to ensure and calculate your growth is by constantly challenging yourself by playing against higher rated opponents and bots. Every player will respond to your moves in a different way. And so, you have to get out of your comfort zone once you have figured out to beat opponents in your rating.

Go a step ahead, go for players better than you, and test your moves against them! Kaabil Kids has a 24/7 playing platform where students can play games anytime with anyone!

9)Solve Puzzles

Solving puzzles is the Chess equivalent of net training in Cricket. Puzzles give you a certain situation in which you are required to come up with the best move that will win you the game. This trains your mind to not settle for mediocre moves but go for winning moves instead.

Kaabil Kids has a platform that gives the students a chance to solve hundreds of puzzles from their puzzle library. Kids can implement their learnings through these puzzles and get better at calculations and tactics.

Conclusion

Chess is something that requires mastery of moves to master the game. Being logical, tactically strong, and creative on the board is what is required when you are in action. So try these options, and slowly hone the Grandmaster in you!

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Childhood is a very interesting and trying time. And as a parent, you have to take all the major decisions on your kids’ behalf that will shape the future that they will grow to have. The skills to master, the hobbies to take up, the sport to play, everything has to be chosen carefully.

At an early age, a kid has a better learning curve, which is a huge advantage. Children pick up complex patterns and skills better at a young age. That is why it is easy to learn new things like languages at a young age than at an older age. Chess is no different. For kids, recognizing patterns, movements, and lines is easy to memorize than at an older age.

It doesn’t stop at that. Chess brings in a lot of other advantages for a child growing up. Here are a few reasons why your child should play chess at a young age.

Here Are The 9 Reasons Why Your Child Should Play Chess At A Young Age

1. The More You Play, The Better You Are

This is a common philosophy in everything. The more you do a certain thing, the better you get at it. It is no different in chess. Beginning at an early age gives you the much-required head start to be ahead at a competitive level. Most Grandmasters these days get their title at the age of 14-15. This would only be possible by starting at a very early age.

The main keyword to focus here is experience. If you start early, you already have a decade’s worth of experience by the time you are 15. Chess is a game that you learn only through playing and experiencing. The more games you play, the better you get at recognizing patterns and other aspects of it.

2. Helps Improve Concentration

Kids are known to be easily distracted. Be it studies or any other activity. This sometimes causes long term problems when they’re not managed properly. The best way to go about is by introducing them to a tool that will require them to concentrate while ensuring they have fun. Chess is the best way to keep them engaged and improve their concentration at the same time.

The same can be said for adults, but for kids, imbibing the power of concentration early on in life makes a huge difference growing up. They are more focused and aim well when it comes to their studies and schooling.

3. Better Memory

Chess is known to improve a child’s memory as it involves memorizing moves that are a little easier to memorize than compared to what a child memorizes in school. So, this quick grasping ability improves their performance in studies. So, beginning at a young age, a child can leverage this training of sharp memory in many aspects of their lives.

4. Better Time Management

Time management is a major life skill, that if acquired and mastered at a young age, can be very beneficial in every stage of life. Chess is played in many time frames. The rapid chess (11 mins +), blitz chess (3-10 mins), & bullet chess (under 3 mins).

A player has to think of the right moves, calculate the lines, play the game, and go for the victory, all in a few minutes of timeframe. The constant playing of time-limited games teaches players to manage their time better. Even while training, players have to manage time to train for chess and do their other studies. With a lot of time management involved at a young age, kids grow into the skill effectively.

5. Better Organization And Planning Skills

Parents spend a lot of their time teaching their kids planning and organization. Be it their room, timetables, schoolbags, or even their life; organization comes in handy everywhere. Chess makes kids organize and plan each and every move in order for them to survive and have a fighting chance at a win.

Having to experience this growing up imbibes valuable organization and planning skills in children.

6. Gives You A Chance To Go For Titles

Professional Chess is all about titles. Every player works hard to go for the big title, Grandmaster. Most Grandmaster these days reach their titles at a very young age. This is possible if you start at an early age and are consistently training towards the big goal.

At a young age, it is comparatively easier to learn all the tactics and intricacies of the game, which is considered a big push towards the big title. And that is why it is always advisable to start early.

7. Mental Development

There have been a few studies in the past to prove that chess helps in improving the IQ of the player. It trains the brain harder and makes the logical and strategic part of it stronger and sharper. You can see kids playing chess do well in academics and show strong skills in various aspects at school.

Chess is also said to help in the development of dendrites in our bodies. Dendrites are a part of the nervous system of our body. They are a projection of neurons that is responsible for receiving signals from other neurons and other brain cells.

8. A Great Distraction From Other Things

Every parent is worried as to what their child would take up in their free time. And more often than not, they go for mobile games, TVs, and other distractions that are addictive in a harmful way. Chess is a really fun hobby to take up and is the perfect distraction you can ask for. It is fun, useful, and comes with a whole set of skills that can be nurtured in childhood for a better future.

9. Builds Self-Confidence

Chess is a game of skill, and there is no space for luck. In every game, the player is all by himself. If they win, they take 100% credit, and if they lose, they are the only ones to blame. This grounds the players and makes them self-confident to deal with anything in life.

A child faces a lot of challenges while growing up, and self-confidence is a skill to master to overcome anything!

Conclusion

These are just some of the many reasons why chess should be started for kids at a young age. Choose the right mentor or training platform and begin early. One of the biggest and the best chess coaching platforms in India is Kaabil Kids.

They train kids to be a better chess player and be mentally healthy. Their curriculum is prepared by Grandmaster Tejas Bakre, and the training is undertaken by a group of trainers with a FIDE rating. Check out their presence, and introduce your kid to the world of chess today!!

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Who doesn’t like being the best at whatever they do? And with Chess, the stakes are just higher. It is a war fought between the 64 squares on the board and a battle of minds. In a game that proves who is the smarter player of the two, one always wants to come out as a winner. So, let’s ask the big question, how to become an expert in Chess?

Just like many other games and sports, Chess requires constant training and studying. Starting at an early age does help a lot in every sport, but in Chess, it’s an even bigger key! A child’s brain is equipped to take in things faster and master complex concepts like languages, patterns, etc. And so, children learn Chess skills faster than adults.

There are a lot of things that factor in when you are on your journey to becoming an expert at the game. Here are some of them:

Here Are The 8 Tips To Get Better At Chess

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1.Train Regularly

This one is a bit more straightforward. Everyday training is required not just to be an expert in the game but also just to stay in touch with the various openings, tactics, traps and lines of the game. Grandmasters and even emerging players train for up to 9-12 hours a day.

For effective training, you can either enrol yourself or your kids in any of the institutes that ensure regular training with a proper curriculum and experienced trainers, or you can find yourself a coach or a mentor to help you reach the next level.

Kaabil Kid’s is one of the best choices to go for if you are planning to enrol your kid in a Chess training institute. They are India’s top live Chess training platform as they focus on quality Chess development and the child’s psychological growth. The curriculum is prepared by the International Grandmaster Tejas Bakre, and the trainers are FIDE rated.

Training regularly keeps your brain sharp, and the more you learn, the more you find it easy to memorize various openings and strategies. So train regularly and progress!

2.Study And Learn Famous Games

This is a practice that is a great training process for both beginners and Grandmasters. There are thousands and millions of quality Chess games that have been played. But a few stand out to be classics, and they teach a lot in terms of tactics, strategies, and planning. Be it Kasparov, Anand, Fischer, or any other legend, a few of their games are worth studying.

These games teach you the kind of openings to choose from, the kind of lines to prepare, and what to expect when you play a certain move. This small practice is a big difference between a novice and an expert.

At Kaabil Kids, students get regular sessions and interactions with some of the best Grandmasters and International Masters who will take them through some famous games and teach them valuable lessons through them.

3.Play Every Day

Not just Chess, consistency is the key in every part of life. But in Chess, the significance is just a little higher. We already spoke about training every day, but implementing the things you have learned in a competitive match is also equally important.

This keeps your competitive nature intact and gives you a taste of what to expect in a professional match and tournament. Studying games and training through videos, books, and engines is one thing, but playing with another player, who is just as strong as you, is totally different.

The human mind is way more advanced than any machine, so you never know what new move you may encounter from your opponent, giving you a chance to prepare for everything that may come your way.

Especially for students, playing regularly can bridge a huge gap between becoming an expert and just playing Chess for fun. Kaabil Kids gives children 24/7 access to a platform where they can play against other players or against bots anytime, anywhere!

This ensures they are never out of touch and are always ready to implement what they learn.

4. Get Your Game Reviewed And Analyzed

Just played a game? Did you win? Did you lose? Don’t stop there! No matter what the outcome is, get your game analyzed. You can analyze it yourself through Chess engines, or you can send the game to an expert and get their views on it.

If you have won the game, then you may be able to find better moves that you could’ve played for a smoother game. And if you lost the game, then the analysis will help you understand where you went wrong and what you could’ve done differently to avoid the perils. Analysis helps a player prepare and be immune to the same attacks in future, making the player more ready and an expert!

Kaabil Kids also believes in learning from mistakes, and after every tournament or major game, the trainers sit with the kids to analyze their games and guide them the right way with necessary feedback.

5.Get Competitive And Go For Tournaments

Friendly games and training will help you a lot in your Chess journey. But the win and lose factor won’t matter or bother you much, as the stakes are not higher. A professional tournament, on the other hand, fuels up the inner urge to win, and makes you train harder, play harder and learn harder. This is where a player shapes himself and knows where he stands compared to the other Chess players.

Being competitive is a necessity in Chess, and this helps the player make the leap from a beginner to an expert. At Kaabil Kids, we have varying levels kids can opt for, based on their Chess expertise.

There are weekly practice matches and tournaments where students can implement what they have learned and hone their skills. And in Level 2-4 (Intermediate to Expert), we focus on preparing students for international tournaments where they can compete on a higher level and aim for an official ELO rating.

6.Follow Professional Games Carefully

There is a lot of Chess around you if you look for it. And Chess was one of those very rare things that grew positively in the lockdown. Offline tournaments can be viewed through various channels, there are online tournaments with nail-biting commentary, and there are super Grandmasters streaming Chess on various platforms!

This has made Chess accessible in the easiest way ever. You can easily interact with some of the biggest Grandmasters, learn from the professional games that are being played and closely follow the commentary where experts discuss various lines the players are playing on the board.

7.Solve Puzzles Every Day

Chess puzzles are a form of art in themselves. They push you to think a lot and come up with the absolute best move in the position. Solving puzzles every day is the best drill a chess player can go for as they are fun, exciting, and give you the thrill of an intense Chess match!

And what better place to look for puzzles than Kaabil Kids’ platform, where there are numerous puzzles of varying difficulties to test the calculating abilities of the kids.

8.Have Number Goal And Aim For The Best

Chess is all about numbers, and a player’s Chess ability can directly be tracked by their ELO rating. It is a rating system that determines the expertise of the player. The higher the ELO rating, the better the player is. So have a set goal in mind and go for it!

With Kaabil Kids, we train students to aim for a FIDE rating in our Platinum Package. Here we prepare them for official FIDE tournaments, teach strategies and tactics on a higher level, and ensure they are ready to compete on a higher level.

To summarize, becoming a Chess expert takes years of intense training and dedication. So just stick to your routine, be consistent, and don’t give up. And one day, who knows, there may be a Grandmaster in you!

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Were you ever asked to take up Chess as a kid? Do you still continue it? If yes, you must already know the various ways Chess might’ve helped you in developing various life skills.

Chess for kids is a part of their growing up. If you ask anyone if they play Chess, their common answer will be, ‘I used to play in my childhood, but slowly lost touch’. In many schools, Chess is a part of the extra-curricular skills for students, and parents insist their kids take the sport up.

But why the preferential treatment for Chess in kids? Because more than anyone, kids have a lot to gain and imbibe by regularly playing and training for Chess. Here are a few benefits of the game that stand out.

Benefits Of Playing Chess For Kids

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1.Improves Memory And Concentration Power

Chess for kids is a game that requires the player to memorize and learn moves. Constant training and memorizing the moves helps kids concentrate better. Their memory power improves, and they are able to learn things quicker and more efficiently.

It is also known to help against Alzheimer’s and Dementia as your brain is constantly being challenged and trained when you are learning and playing Chess. With time, kids get better at recognizing patterns and improving their spatial memory as well.

And when kids learn Chess while at school, there is a clear impact on their studies as their improved memory and concentration come to play while studying their other subjects.

2.Better Planning and Organization Skills: (Foresight)

In order to win at Chess, you always have to think one step ahead of your opponent. This involves thinking and planning on what your opponent’s move might be and planning your moves accordingly.

The process helps kids understand the importance of planning and organizing their moves and pieces in the most efficient way possible. The better you plan your pieces, the better coordinated they are, the better you are on the board.

Kids with this skill are good at planning their study cycle, their day and organizing every aspect of their life a little better. They balance their play-study cycle well and ensure their all-round development.

3.Increased Self-Confidence

Chess is a solo game, where the players are all by themselves. They have to take all the right decisions by themselves, and they are solely responsible for the outcome. They lose, their fault. They win, their amazing play.

This gives the kids a sense of responsibility for the outcome of the game, making them self-confident at an early stage. At a young age, they realize how one wrong move can mess the chances that they created by playing 100 right moves. It makes them cautious and ensures they take calculative steps at every stage of their life.

4.Mental and Psychological Improvement

A study has proven that while playing Chess for kids, both the sides of the brain were equally active and working at the same time. It is a great exercise for both the right and the left hemispheres of the brain.

The brain works better, and it helps battle anxiety in kids. It also helps boost a lot of other brain functions that are very useful in day-to-day life. It teaches them patience; it teaches them to battle stress when you lose something; it teaches them to mentally prepare themselves before a crucial event, and so much more!

5.Improves Problem Solving Skills

Be it math, or puzzles or any other strategy games, Chess helps improve problem-solving skills that come in handy in many ways and at many places. When it comes down to it, Chess is a puzzle that needs to be solved in order to win a position. And thinking of the right combination of moves requires a lot of practice and calculating all the possibilities.

These sharpen your brain to solve any other problem that comes its way and help you improve the brain to work faster and sharper.

6.Increases IQ Level

Chess is a great combination of everything that improves your IQ. Logical reasoning, puzzle-solving abilities, calculations, memorizing, and many other things. And it is proven time and again that Chess players have a high IQ level compared to others.

A Venezuelan study tested and concluded that kids who played Chess as a part of their test ended up having higher IQs than kids who did not play Chess. One of the main reasoning they gave was that both Chess and IQ testing are similar, decoding patterns, cognitive and logical thinking and analyzing situations present to them.

7.Sportsmanship

Chess players have to play a lot of games in order to get better at the sport. And they will have to lose hundreds of games to be able to win thousands. Constantly losing game after game and realizing the importance of one wrong move shapes them into better sportsmen. They can handle losses and deal with them in a better way.

One other thing every Chess player does after a game, irrespective of its outcome, is the analyzing part of it. They analyze the game, their moves, their opponent’s moves and see the mistakes they have made for them to improve in the future. This imbibes a great sportsman quality of looking back and learning from the mistakes and not to avoid the same in the future.

8.Helps In Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is a major aspect of Chess for kids. A player must go out of the box to surprise his opponents and win games. Tactics, strategies, and move combinations are all part of creative thinking on the board. This helps kids in thinking different.

While playing on the board, players constantly think, ‘What will happen if I do this. This is originality at its finest as Chess is a game with billions of possibilities, and every game is unique in itself. And to create a unique and winning position, players have to bring their creative best on the board.

9.Getting Them Away From Phones

One of the major worries of parents is that their kids are consuming random content on the Internet, which is causing a major distraction and decreasing their concentration. Chess for kids helps them get away from the screen and shift their focus to something that is both fun and beneficial.

They interact with parents and friends more and are able to prioritize better.

So all in all, Chess is packed with a lot of goodies and playing Chess for kids is one of the best things they can indulge in at their age. So get them going at an early age and enrol them in quality training that improves Chess for kids and makes them ready for the real world.

So How Do You Encourage Your Child To Play Chess?

At Kaabil Kids, the trainers do not just focus on quality Chess coaching for the kids but also work on their holistic development to improve their other life skills. Kaabil Kids has the best of both the worlds:

1. Chess module designed by Grandmaster Tejas Bakre, who is also the chief mentor of Kaabil Kids, and training led by some of the most experienced and highly skilled Chess masters.
2. In-house child-psychologist to help them developmentally.

Take a sneak-peak into our learning approach with a free webinar, and enrol your child in India’s best Live Chess training platform!

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