Author: Bob Durrett
Date: 13:26:31 02/14/04
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On February 14, 2004 at 15:11:40, kevin mccraw wrote: >On February 13, 2004 at 15:52:41, Bob Durrett wrote: > >>On February 13, 2004 at 15:11:20, kevin mccraw wrote: >> >>>This is a humble request -- from a non-player -- for recommendations on >>>stand-alone chess computers for kids. My stepdaughter has recently taken an >>>interest in the most ancient and venerable of games, and is having a birthday at >>>the end of the month. I was looking at the various stand-alones offered, and >>>some of them seem pretty good. I'm seeking recommendations on which of them >>>might be better than the general run of games. I'm thinking that a good one >>>would have a solid teach mode, for starters. What else do I need to be looking >>>for? >>> >>>Many thanks in advance to any who have insight on this issue. >> >>Your stepdaughter's age is critical. How old is she? >> >>Bob D. > > >Thanks for your response. She's a high-achieving nine year-old. Magnet school, >all of that. Wonderful. I have a granddaughter the same age. Girls are different from boys. [I hope that's not deemed to be too sexist for CCC. I'd hate to get banned for indescretion. : ) ] I raised a boy and now am watching my three granddaughters grow up. The difference is like night and day. One of my granddaughters is interested in chess, but she's also interested in about ten other things including basketball, dolls, and boys. Chess is not at the top of the priority list! It is amazing that there is a 13-year-old who has already achieved one grandmaster norm. That's amazing! However, most children are not child prodigies. Computer games are interesting to girls as well as boys. Both of the older girls like computer games but do not spend a lot of time on them. They would rather watch children's videos on television. I suspect that most girls will be turned off by chess if it becomes adversarial against males. Girls like boys and do not wish to hurt them. There is no doubt, however, that girls can whip boys their own age if they want to. You will have a hard time motivating small children, especially girls, to do self-study of chess. They love the attention of good parents, however, and will learn a lot if the parents participate in the learning process. Chesster for Fritz is the only children's chess game I've played with. It seems to try very hard to appeal to small children. It may be too juvenile for your nine-year-old, but I'm not sure about that. Good luck with your project, and try not to get too disappointed if she doesn't take to it like ducks to water. From the perspective of a child, there's much more to life than chess. Bob D.
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