News & Updates
Laura Sherman
Last week we took a minute and had some questions answered by Laura Sherman. Laura is the author for the popular chess book, Chess is Child’s Play. You can purchase a copy of this book by CLICKING HERE.
WSC: What is your chess background?
Sherman: My father taught me to play chess when I was nine years old. When I could beat him he took me to a large city about an hour away for lessons with a Russian chess master. It was very exciting. Soon after that I began playing in tournaments.
I took several breaks from active play growing up and rediscovered chess in high school, when I joined the chess club. At that time my rating put me ahead of the teachers who played, which was a confidence booster.
I left for college and got a degree in Civil Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona. I was engrossed in study and didn’t find time for chess, but when I graduated I joined a small club in Upland, CA and started studying again.
I took off some time from work to play in tournaments and study. I would play in various Open tournaments around the country. The New York Open was always my favorite. It was fun to watch the grandmasters from around the world sing at the karaoke bar at the hotel where we all stayed at the end of the day, too.
My rating reached 2000 at one point, which put me at Expert. That’s when I met my husband. He had the exact same rating as I, which I found to be romantic.
Chess has always been a part of my life, but now I focus on teaching the next generation. My goal is to get all children learning to play chess before they enter the school system, because I firmly believe that chess helps make children smarter.
WSC: What long-term benefits will kids get from playing chess?
Sherman: I’ve written many articles on this subject, because I feel very strongly that children get a lot from learning to play chess. The list of benefits goes on and on.
When asked, most parents would say children become strong problem solvers when they learn chess. Others will tell you that they become more logical in their thinking.
As a chess instructor I can tell you that I have seen a child’s ability to concentrate improve remarkably, sometimes even after a few lessons. Even children with attention problems will sometimes learn to focus and can study better in school as a result of learning chess.
I have also witnessed a remarkable boost in self-confidence amongst many children who learn to play the game early on. There is nothing better than beating a grown-up at chess when you’re a kid.
WSC: What prompted you to write this book?
Sherman: When I was a teenager I had a dream of teaching the world to play chess. I could see gang members sitting down across a board to “fight” rather than resorting to violence.
This basic goal never diminished over the years, but the purpose changed slightly. When my son turned four I started teaching him to play chess on the beach. I wasn’t sure how it would go or how successful I would be, but when he learned the game quickly and easily I realized I was on to something.
I then worked on my techniques, improving them with his classmates and friends. I even went into the preschool to teach the two- and three-year-olds. I fine-tuned my methods, working with Bill Kilpatrick, my co-author, to create a workable strategy that anyone could follow.
It was important to Bill and me to make the book accessible to everyone, even parents who didn’t know how to play chess (or who were intimidated to learn). However we also wanted to appeal to the experienced player. In the end I believe we accomplished these goals.
WSC: Why did you choose this particular format/style?
Sherman: I’m glad you asked that question, because we spent a lot of time with formatting and style. The layout is very “user friendly,” incorporating the use of large diagrams. We also feature “Coffee Talk,” which highlights fun and humorous stories told to us by parents and “Coach’s Corner,” which shares important tips on how to conduct a lesson.
We make sure to define all the terms that might be new to a parent unfamiliar with the game, giving them guidance in how to explain the words to a young child.
Chess Is Child’s Play also has a troubleshooting section at the end of each chapter, giving the parents additional tools to use if they run into trouble.
We were careful to format the book so that someone new to chess would feel comfortable with the text and diagrams. Most chess books have very small diagrams that are hard for beginners to read and understand. We wanted to avoid that.
WSC: How did you choose the photographs and why?
Sherman: Kristy Mann, a Los Angeles based photographer, conducted several photo shoots, capturing fun, artistic shots of children playing chess. These are featured at the start of each chapter.
WSC: Will this book help coaches and/or parents and how?
Sherman: Chess Is Child’s Play is very different from other chess instruction books. Anyone can apply these techniques, whether they are an experienced player or completely new to the game.
We have broken down the basics into very easy, step by step techniques. To give you an idea, the chapter “The Rook,” which simply goes over how the rook moves, is 11 pages long.
The Rook has seven steps, with four “mini-games” (exercises designed to teach a certain skill to the child). At the end of the chapter there is a detailed Trouble Shooting guide which answers questions such as, “When I ask my child to move the rook, he only moves it one square at a time. What should I do?”
Chess Is Child’s Play will teach a coach or parent to teach a young child the basics of chess, in a way where the child will win with each exercise, mastering an important skill.
WSC: The trailer is really cute. How did you come upon that idea to market the book and how was it made?
Sherman: Our publisher, Mongoose Press, suggested that we create an animated trailer. They asked me to write the script, which was incredibly fun! They found an amazing animator who breathed life into my words.
I would invite people to embed the trailer in their blog or on their sites, if they like it. We’re hoping to spread the message that anyone can learn to play chess, regardless of their age!
The Cover for Chess Is Child's Play
Written by guest author Erik Czerwin for Wholesale Chess
The chess match begins, and 16 players frantically move chess pieces, slap chess clocks, and scribble down notation. The first five or six moves tick off quickly as each team member jockeys for opening position. Just as the pace slows down and players begin searching more deeply into positions to discover clever traps and zaps, one game ends with a player extending his arm over the board and the other player looking befuddled, frustrated, and angry. Sometimes games just end this quickly. Sometimes it just happens. However, they should never happen like they did once for a team member of mine…
He came over to me, beaming. Smiling over his speedy conquering of a relatively new player, he said to me, “She didn’t catch it.” After I asked what it was that she didn’t catch, he replied, “I started with two queens on the chess board to see if she would catch it. I replaced one of my bishops with a queen, and she didn’t even notice! I won, and now that the game is over, she can’t undo the results; those are the rules!” He was grinning ear-to-ear with his own cleverness. I, however, felt queasy and disgusted. Where had I gone wrong? When had I taught my players that abusing the rules of chess was a way to achieve victory? When had I taught them to gloat over cheating?
The answer to all these questions was that I had not, in fact, ever taught my team to play like that. This kid did it all on his own. After recovering from my momentary shock, I demanded that he go over and apologize to the other player. After a brief refusal, he complied. Personally, I apologized to the other coach. I have never been as embarrassed as chess coach before or since.
The fact of the matter is that some kids want the cheap wins. They don’t understand the pure joy of an intensely fought win. Heck, sometimes a hard-fought draw can be just as satisfying as a solid win. This particular student continues to show signs that he doesn’t care to improve his understanding of the game of chess, he only cares to rack up cheap wins.
As a chess coach, I struggle with this for many reasons. My goal is not to have the winning-est team, but the team that most enjoys the struggle to improve and continue growing. If a student like this doesn’t place the same value on intrinsic improvement, what am I to do? Unfortunately, he is a very talented player who could be much better if he stopped practicing poor chess.
However, if he never really wants to improve by studying chess books or working with a stronger player, why should I invest time and energy towards forcing him to? It is my job to encourage him to grow, but if a student doesn’t have the self-motivation to do so, should I continue to spend time trying to move a mountain? Shouldn’t his repeated losses to better players be motivation enough?
His wins are cheap and easy, and when the game is a difficult struggle, his board is more often than not a loss. His wins depend solely upon the mistakes of his opponents, rarely on his skill as a chess player. His team knows it, I know it, but he is blind to it because his win loss record blocks his larger vision. I’m still searching for a way to change this in students. As of yet, I have found no answer. Perhaps there is no answer. Hopefully, over time, he will discover a love of the deeper game. I sincerely hope.
Erik Czerwin is a self-taught chess player and also a self-taught chess coach. He founded the current Marengo Community High School Chess team, founded the Marengo Chess Club, plays at the Rockford Chess Club, and occasionally volunteers as a chess teacher at the Rockford Public Library, all in Northern Illinois. In his spare time, he’s also a full-time high school language arts teacher, part-time graduate student, part-time tutor, and full-time father of two and husband to a very understanding wife.
This article, written by the manager of Wholesale Chess, was first published in The Link Homeschool Publications (Copyright, 2009). Reprinted by permission.
You see the benefits of chess and want to teach them to a child. You don’t have to be afraid of not knowing what to do or how to play. There are plenty of resources to help you.
“Remember that you are passing on a wonderful gift to them,” Mrs. Graham, manager of Wholesale Chess said. “Learn or renew your skills right along with them. Make sure you use care, patience and respect while teaching. Also, try to be interesting! Use humor, funny voices, cartwheels — whatever it takes to make your chess students pay attention and have a good time.”
Mrs. Graham suggests each child have their own chess set. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Most students use a roll-up vinyl board, plastic chess pieces, either weighted or not, and an inexpensive chess bag for chess pieces to be carried in.
“Wholesale Chess has a very basic chess curriculum that we recommend to work with beginners,” she said. Only move to the next step when you know your child has a real understanding of what you have already taught.
- How the pieces move and how to setup the board
- How to capture pieces
- Check and checkmate
- More advanced rules of castling, en passant, and pawn promotion
- The values of the pieces and making good captures and trades
- Developing your pieces and controlling the center
- Using multiple pieces to attack and defend
- Basic tactics – forks and pins
- Basic strategies – controlling squares, diagonals, and files
- Basic opening principles – control key squares, activate your pieces, get your king to safety
To be a good chess parent, teacher or chess coach you must be sure to get plenty of feedback from the student, Mrs. Graham said. “Make sure you know how your children feel about chess. If they are feeling burned out, then pressuring them may just turn them off more. If they are hungry for chess and you are not feeding that, they may become frustrated.
“If you have a child who enjoys learning and playing chess, you should encourage that as much as is healthy,” she said. “Chess has great social and intellectual benefits that can affect other aspects of life, but remember that chess is a part of life, not the purpose of life. I suggest chess parents watch or read Searching for Bobby Fischer with their child. “It is a great story. We also recommend the book, Survival Guide for Chess Parents.
“Another important thing, perhaps the most important, is to always make sure that your child knows how much you love them regardless of whether they are winning or losing their chess games,” she added. “Never show disappointment at their performance — they are most likely frustrated enough on their own!”
“Chess will certainly grow in the future,” she said. “Players will have to be more accurate in play, as chess computers and training becomes more and more available. But most of us hope that the essence and fun of the game doesn’t change at all!”
WSC Note: Our Book Category has a selection of books designed for parents or chess coaches to use as well as books for children who are beginnnig to play chess to read.
This is the last in the series of articles written on this subject by guest author Greg Delaney for Wholesale Chess.
I had now acquired the services of a noted chess trainer who seemed to understand both my deficits in chess understanding and some of the personality difficulties that were holding me back in my pursuit of chess improvement. After some examination of recent games I’d played in over-the-board tournaments, it was time to clearly identify areas needing change.
The first and most significant factor to be corrected was the overall passivity of my chess. An overhaul of my opening repertoire was needed. Recommended were the Classical Sicilian Defense and King’s Indian as Black, as well as switching to 1. e4 as my first move when playing White. Of course, it became clear that I would need a number of ideas and lines against all of Black’s possible replies. I was provided with some (not a lot) of theory to look over and begin to learn, but I should stress here that an opening repertoire was not the priority. Much more was (and is still) needed.
The second primary weakness was a glaring lack of knowledge of chess fundamentals. My endgame play was very weak, my tactical skills were mediocre, and my positional understanding was rudimentary. A variety of lessons were planned and conducted on these aspects of chess, and I was given “homework” ranging from annotating positions and continuations to working with positional exercises in one of my trainer’s books. I needed to better understand basic endgame theory and to unlearn the mistaken notion that I could figure it out over the board when the time came. This was a silly belief, of course, but one that I had developed out of my laziness. In a similar vein, I would often select a move that “looked good” without calculating subsequent variations – I would just “see what my opponent came up with” and go from there.
The third identified difficulty was a negative attitude towards myself as a person, my capabilities in chess, and my positions in every game. My trainer pointed out that many times I had already lost the game from the beginning, because my early moves allowed the opponents to do pretty much whatever they wanted. Psychologically, I feared conflict, and I gave far too much power to my opponents and their ratings. During games, I could readily see strong moves and plans that my opponent could play, but I saw only the defects in my own position. For this I was encouraged to play games online, 5-10 minutes per game, as a way to practice openings and get an idea of how they feel to play. Moreover, the mantra “make a threat with every move you can” was added to my chess mentality, and we even analyzed these blitz games for signs of old thinking and improvement.
There are many other aspects of this plan that I could share, but these three areas of struggle and the resulting change plans have been quite successful. I find myself thinking more in terms of making threats and putting pressure on my opponents. I am gradually learning some of the opening variations and the ideas behind them – although there is much, much more to learn before I can play any of them competently. I have noticed less anxiety when playing higher rated players online, and I even seek out stronger players as a challenge. I have won a number of games by executing some of my improved endgame knowledge, and I can recommend studying the endings as a way to pick up wins – even in equal or losing positions. Instead of “giving up” on a game when I blunder or end up in a bad position, I am succeeding in fighting and even winning a few. There are relapses into old ways sometimes, but now at least I know what to correct and how to go about it.
Greg Delaney is Life Member of USCF who returned to chess in 2005 after a three decade hiatus from the game he loves. He is an educator, club player, and student of IM Yelena Dembo. For fun, he blogs about chess and his work to improve as a player.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Wholesale Chess. We welcome open discussion on all aspects of chess on the Wholesale Chess Blog. If you would like to be a guest author on our blog, please contact us at marketing@wholesalechess.com.
Kelly Jones uses his creative side to keep chess kids motivated to play chess. Following are a couple of images he sent showing chess sets from Wholesale Chess, which he has painted to match the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Thanks again, Kelly!
Written by guest author Erik Czerwin for Wholesale Chess.
Every competition I attend, I see a lot of fascinating chess teams. Some teams pour over computers, chess books, and boards studying positions and famous games. Some teams engage in heated debate about curious moves. Other teams play blitz games and combat one another. Then there’s my team; some kids are playing blitz games, other kids are pestering those players and kibitzing like crazy, still others listen to music and brood in the corner with hoodies pulled over their heads. Certainly, my team is not the most studious. Of course, this only describes what we do before competition ignites. I’ve worked hard over the years to shape a specific culture on my team, and it is open, friendly, yet ferocious.
My team consists of a motley Read more �
Written by guest author Erik Czerwin for Wholesale Chess.
“What am I going to do about these kids? They just don’t take my advice.”
“Our advice…”
“Yeah, our advice. What can we do to inspire them?”
“Maybe we should get in more tournaments, spark the competition bug. Or maybe we could just beat them over the head with rolled up chess boards.”
“Tournaments are expensive. And I don’t know about beating children. That’s a lot of paperwork.”
Such is a common conversation between my assistant chess coach and me. Coaching chess is a weird, stumbling sort of a job that involves teaching a tremendously complex, yet beautiful, game while at the same time managing a small crowd of awkward, sometimes rambunctious, teenagers. When I think about the success our chess team has had, I can really only contribute the success to one exceedingly important factor: having an assistant coach. Every success of our team hinges on Coach Brian and his voluntary presence, and no other team Read more �
Written by guest author Erik Czerwin for Wholesale Chess
Coaching any sport can be a challenging endeavor, but coaching chess entails a great many unique complications aside from knowing how to teach this many-layered game. Over the years, I find myself more frustrated at snarky comments made by uninformed colleagues whenever I mention difficulty in coaching my chess team. They laugh at the idea that it is even possible to coach a “board game” (as they call it). I wish I could say that adults are more mature than that, but that reality simply doesn’t exist. Coaching chess can be an amazingly challenging process for a wide variety of less-than-predictable reasons. Read more �
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