Chess for kids and parents

Parents usually come to chess with practical questions: whether it really helps children, when to start, how to choose a class, and how to play at home without turning it into homework. The answers depend on the child, and the research is more modest than many claims suggest.

Start with the pillar on the benefits of chess for kids, which sets out what studies support and what they do not. The guide to the right age to start gives readiness signs rather than a single number. The guide to choosing a class lists the questions to ask an academy before you pay, and the home guide shows how to teach a child aged five to ten yourself. Parents of children with ADHD have a separate guide that is careful about what chess can and cannot do.