Should Chess be taught different?

Question

Every chess coach my daughter has been to, she is taught that she should always move her king pawn always to e4. She is a beginner... But i think this advice is overrated. The new chess players today are always taught the king's pawn game for the sake of teaching casteling etc. But i feel that it makes a difference between a professional and a novice of how they approach to chess. I feel that my daughter will always choose the king pawn game because she will feel 'safer', chooseing the overrated move. Most chess games are also boring due to the fact that 70 percent of games i play are against white playing e4. And i have a very good percentage against the people who choose this move because all the masters know about 100 moves ahead of any of the following variations after e4, and i simply just play out of an opening book with a quite move. Do you think that i should teach my daughter myself? Or do you think that her learning king's pawn games will benifit her. THanks for any reply.

Answer 1

1.e4 is a solid starting move for new players because it serves the needs of someone who needs to learn a number of basic concepts.  The needs of a beginner in chess are to learn how the pieces move, learn basic opening principles such as piece development and control of the center, to have the opportunity to be explore tactical ideas, and to learn how a game ends.  As an opening, 1.e4 gives a beginner the opportunity to see very active attacking games and to explore opening concepts.  It's a good idea, and will benefit her.

As to teaching her yourself, it depends on her goals and your ability both to play and to teach.  If her goal is to gain a solid foundation in chess, and if the approach you would teach is to quickly leave the opening books, I'd avoid teaching her yourself.  There is a reason why the openings are fairly stardardized; form follows function.  Contrarian chess can have some suprise value, but there is a limit to what can be achieved.

Another has suggested that one must be a middle expert (2100) before being a paid coach.  The number of players over 2100 is fairly small, and it makes this advice difficult to actually act upon outside of major cities.  A reflective coach who knows her limits can teach a lot to a young player who is rated 400-800 points below her, without instilling bad habits.  The advice given may be appropriate if your daughter has a goal of becoming a strong scholastic player and you have access to strong players who are also effective instructors.

Answer 2

Learning chess is more about experience than coaching. Once you teach some basics, it's best to learn by doing. At certain stages it may be beneficial to introduce new ideas, but I doubt that constant coaching is all that helpful.

Castling early is a safe bet, sure it's common and there are many ways to defeat it, but in general it is a solid defense. And that is the hardest to learn for young players, they are all about the attack and often forget to protect their own pieces.  So, don't panic just yet, as she plays more and sees new defenses and learns new attacks, she'll try different things.

Instead of "teaching her yourself", just play chess with her. She'll enjoy the time spent with her father, and she'll learn how to play better in the process.

Answer 3

The thing is, most games opening with 1. e4 are very tactical. Beginners are advised to learn the tactical games first, because if they learn slow, positional games, they will get slaughtered in an open game like 1. e4. Also, many of your boring games come from the fact that they go 1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6, reaching a symmetrical position. If you hate this, the Sicilian Defense, 1. e4 c5, is a good opening with lots of counterattacking potential. However, if you want to teach her yourself, that's your decision. Personally, if you want to teach her, try to learn some time-tested coaching methods and material before giving it to her. And, if you teach her, do not teach her too little or she will not have basic knowledge, or too much, and she will bog down in detail and get confused.

Answer 4

Try the Chess master video game.I think it is for playstation 2.It gives good practice.-Michelle

Answer 5

As a chess teacher let me explain the thing about e4 is it effects the center.  d4 is good too, but castling takes longer.  

I've seen students left to their own playing a4.

Answer 6

Your enquiry contains many aspects, but I'll try to deal with them in the order mentioned.

Firstly, no-one should be coaching your daughter (especially for payment) unless they have a rating of at least 2100. Around this level their advice can be relied upon, though they will certainly not be of master strength.

1e4 is the best move to give the likelihood of an open game, with lots of action. This is the reason why it is recommended for beginners, in order to give plenty of practice with basic threat, capture and re-capture. The strategies behind the openings associated with 1e4 are generally easier to understand than with other first move options.

You are correct to say that the approach to chess of a professional and a novice are not the same. A professional is only a professional (natural talent or not) because they have also gone through all the basic learning that your daughter must also now gradually accumulate. It is impossible to run before you learn to walk.

If the coaches so far have been exclusively, or even mostly,  talking about openings, then I would not be surprised to learn that she is making slower progress than you think she is capable of. It is extremely important to study the endgame, and any master will tell you that the knowledge gained here is the most basic foundation block of chess excellence. Only on an uncluttered board can the pieces show their true potential, and the king, so vulnerable in the earlier stages of the game, is revealed as a formidable fighting force. The themes and motifs relating to pawn structure, tempo,  promotion threats etc., when combined with better knowing the abilities of the pieces,  will have an automatic and beneficial beneficial effect on move selection at the start of the game, 1e4 or not 1e4.

Do not be tempted to teach her yourself, even though it sounds like you can hold your own in a game.