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.
Written by guest author Greg Delaney for Wholesale Chess.
Let’s take a closer look at the process of change and how it plays out in the improvement of a chess player. There’s an old saying about change that goes like this: “the only person who likes change is a wet baby.” Most people find uncomfortable the experience of making a change or being subjected to one. Once we have established a “routine” and have become comfortable with it, our tendency is to remain in this “normal” (for us) pattern of thinking, feeling, or behaving. This being said, it’s clear that the only way to improve at chess is to somehow change our current method of playing the game.
The first “stage” of a change process, ironically, is Read more �
Written by guest author Greg Delaney for Wholesale Chess.
It’s really not enough to simply know that a problem of any sort exists in any aspect of our lives. Awareness by itself will not solve a problem. This being said, a problem cannot be solved without it. Because of our “blind areas” as chess players, we may lack awareness of personality traits that cause our skills at chess to be less than they might otherwise be. Everyone has denial mechanisms – psychological methods by which we avoid painful thoughts and feelings – and this denial plays a role in being “unaware” of personality factors that hinder our chess development. Chess at any level is a very personal game. We place ourselves “on the line” during each game. Our knowledge, skills, stamina, intellect, and even our self-esteem are there for our opponents to see. Think about it: how many times have you made a weak move and then had your opponent look at you with a pitying smile before capturing an unprotected piece or setting up an unavoidable mate? How does that feel?
In order to preserve some dignity, we normally will find some reason “why” a mistake was made and “why” we lost the game. Read more �
Written by guest author Greg Delaney for Wholesale Chess.
The word “humility,” according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, means “the quality or state of being humble.” It is difficult to think of another human endeavor besides parenting children that has the power to humble us as thoroughly as the game of chess. So many times I have read in popular culture quips like, “chess: easy to learn, but impossible to master.” We who play this game know how extremely difficult chess is and how it challenges our minds and our spirits beyond most anything else in life. How many times have we approached a game against our opponent with plenty of confidence, only to end up tipping our king in dismay?
By using the word “humility,” I do not mean “pathetic and abject defeat” or “lacking in self-confidence.” My use of “humility” Read more �
Written by guest author Greg Delaney for Wholesale Chess.
I would like to share some of my experiences and insights from an over-the-board chess tournament in which I participated recently. These tend to support my belief that our personality traits, both strong and weak, have profound impact on how we play the game of chess. In the following examples, some of my weaknesses of character showed up very distinctly in this event.
Reacting vs. Acting
I think I can safely and accurately describe myself as a person who tends to react to circumstances rather than as someone who initiates action. This showed itself several times in the games I played during the event. In each game I had at least equality out of the opening, but in two of the three failed to utilize the positive aspects of my position on the chess board by making a clear plan and acting upon it. The result in both cases was predictable: I forfeited the initiative to Read more �
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