Should a seven-year-old learn chess openings?

Not as memorised lines. Taking a share of the centre, developing the pieces and castling covers what a seven-year-old needs for several years. Time spent memorising openings is better spent on tactics, which decide most games at this age.

How many chess puzzles a day should a 6 to 8 year old do?

Five to ten, done carefully, with any misses explained. Fifty rushed puzzles teach a child to guess quickly, which is the opposite of the goal. At this age, attention matters more than volume.

When should my child play their first chess tournament?

When they can play a whole game without help and lose without the day being ruined. A rapid event is the best first step. Around seven or eight is common, but readiness matters more than age.

How do I stop my child losing to Scholar's mate?

Show them the two attackers: the queen and bishop both aiming at f7, the pawn beside their king. Then build one habit: after every opponent move, say what it attacks. Most children stop falling for it within a week or two.

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Getting started · 4 min read

Chess for kids aged 6 to 8: the pattern years

Between six and eight the rules stop filling a child's head, and the room left over goes to seeing patterns. This is when chess starts to be about recognising shapes, and a child can improve quickly.

It is also when a good year is most often wasted, usually on memorising openings.

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6 4.Qxf7#

Scholar's mate: White's queen and bishop both aim at f7, and 4.Qxf7# is checkmate

Mate in one, many times

If you do one thing at this age, do this: five or ten mate-in-one puzzles a day, until the patterns are recognised rather than worked out.

Chess vision is built from a library of patterns. A child who has seen the back-rank mate two hundred times spots it at once. A child who has seen it twice works it out slowly, and often misses it.

Scholar's mate, from both sides

Almost every child this age meets Scholar's mate, shown above. White's queen and bishop both attack f7, the pawn next to Black's king, which only the king defends.

Learning to stop it teaches a bigger habit: look at what the opponent's last move attacks. After 3.Qh5, Black can block with 3...g6 or defend f7 with 3...Qe7.

Lose to it once. It is a cheap lesson.
Learn the defence.
Then stop playing it. It only works against players who are not looking.

Forks, pins and the back rank

Fork: one piece attacks two things at once, and only one can be saved. Knights are especially good at it.
Pin: a piece cannot move without exposing something more valuable behind it. Attack the pinned piece again.
Back-rank mate: the pawns in front of a castled king can trap it on its own back row. This decides a great many games at this level.

Skip memorised openings

Memorising opening moves does little at this level, because games here are rarely decided in the first ten moves. They are decided by a piece left undefended in the middlegame.

Three principles are enough for years: take a share of the centre, develop the pieces, castle.

Writing moves down, around eight

Most children can record their moves by about eight. A recorded game can be played through again, and one reviewed game teaches more than several forgotten ones.

Keep the review short. Find the move where things went wrong and say in one sentence what they expected to happen. Do it the next day.

The first tournament

Choose a rapid event, not a long classical one.
Go when they can play a full game without help and cope with losing.
Prepare for the day, not the openings: shaking hands, using the clock, what to do at the end of a game.
Expect to lose more games than they win at a first event. It is normal.

A session at this age

Age six: fifteen minutes, five of puzzles and ten of play.
Age seven: twenty minutes, four or five days a week, plus a club if there is one nearby.
Age eight: twenty to thirty minutes, and one reviewed game a week.

Key takeaways

Mate-in-one puzzles are the best use of time between six and eight.
Learn Scholar's mate from both sides, then stop playing it.
Skip opening theory. Three principles cover it.
From about eight, record games and review one a week.

Frequently asked questions

Should a seven-year-old learn chess openings?: Not as memorised lines. Taking a share of the centre, developing the pieces and castling covers what a seven-year-old needs for several years. Time spent memorising openings is better spent on tactics, which decide most games at this age.
How many chess puzzles a day should a 6 to 8 year old do?: Five to ten, done carefully, with any misses explained. Fifty rushed puzzles teach a child to guess quickly, which is the opposite of the goal. At this age, attention matters more than volume.
When should my child play their first chess tournament?: When they can play a whole game without help and lose without the day being ruined. A rapid event is the best first step. Around seven or eight is common, but readiness matters more than age.
How do I stop my child losing to Scholar's mate?: Show them the two attackers: the queen and bishop both aiming at f7, the pawn beside their king. Then build one habit: after every opponent move, say what it attacks. Most children stop falling for it within a week or two.