Publisher's Synopsis
Chess and Children presents the conventional information about the game of chess from the point of view of one who wishes to teach it to children. It assumes little or no preliminary knowledge of the game on the part of the reader, so parents and teachers who do not play chess can make use of the book as readily as those who do.
The author, who has specialized in teaching chess to children for several years, describes important teaching methods that are most successful in working with children. He points out that most children lack the power of abstraction. They tend to learn only mechanical short-term concepts and are interested primarily in concrete illustrations. The single most effective teaching device for children has proven to be repetitive problem-solving tasks of one or two-move scope to illustrate each concept. Unlike most introductory chess books, this one contains no examples solely for the purpose of entertaining the reader, but rather all are readily applicable in the games of a novice.
The best way to develop the interest of a child is to develop his playing ability in the fastest possible way and this is best done by helping him to see threats and imminent tactical possibilities. The interest of children stems primarily from the ego gratification of winning games.
Over one hundred diagrams are included, illustrating the various discussions of problems and tactics.
