Chess for Children

Chess	Training
for		Kids

There are many benefits from getting children involved in chess as early as possibly. You will see tremendous increase in their attention, discipline of thinking, better results at school and a lot more. States like New York and New Jersey have chess now as requirement of their school curriculum. More and more colleges are offering various incentives for chess players - from full scholarships to extra points for admission evaluation.

Here is the sample list with 12 reasons your kids should take up Chess.

1. Chess requires higher level thinking skills;

2. Chess improves ability to concentrate;

3. Chess provides tremendous motivation;

4. Chess is inexpensive;

5. Chess is quite;

6. Chess is an esteem builder;

7. Chess improves discipline;

8. Chess helps students become less impulsive;

9. Chess is a great vehicle for teaching sportsmanship;

10. Chess is fun;

11. Chess teaches patience;

12. Chess is safe.

(Ann Campbell, Chess Life, October, 1997)

I am one of the three coauthors of the three-volume curriculum, titled Teaching Chess Step by Step that Kasparov's Chess foundation published. Foreword by Kasparov.

Press Release (11/06) from Kasparov Chess Foundation: The three-volume curriculum, titled Teaching Chess Step by Step, features a Teacher's Manual (336 pages), Exercises (160 pages) and Activities (48 pages). Authored by notable chess educators Igor Khmelnitsky, Michael Khodarkovsky and Michael Zadorozny, and editorialized by Pete Tamburro, the materials provide teachers with mechanics to lead a group of beginning students from the rudiments of chess rules to the ability of playing a full game in a competent manner. Combined, they bring a 21st Century approach to teaching one of the oldest strategy games in existence.

My contribution was writing the Exercise book. I am very pleased with the final product. You can order the individual books or sets from KCF ($50+s/h). Schools can get the sets free, so please pass the information.

I have a couple of sets available and can autograph them for you. Use the button on the left - $49 postage paid (US - insured shipping, Non-US will be billed separately another $25 for shipping).

Recommended gifts for your favorite young chess-player:

DVD

(1hr 20 min)

Grandmaster Susan Polgar

Presents The Best Beginning dvd ever produced. Now subtitles in 4 Languages Spanish, French, German and English. NL

Learning Chess the Easy Way:
Chess for Absolute Beginners

Book

Ivashenko - Manual of Chess Combinations 1A -

Intended Audience – Players from absolute beginners to 1000, semi/hardcover, 144 pp

Excellent book for beginners - basic mates and tactics, intro into basic endgames.

First book for hundreds of thousands of Russian kids and adults beginners.

Book

Alburt - Comprehensive Chess Course: Learn Chess in 12 Lessons (Comprehensive Chess Course)
Intended Audience – Players from absolute beginners to 1000, oversized, 124 pp

Excellent book for beginners, parents, teachers. The 1st book in the Comprehensive Chess Course series by award-winning best selling author Lev Alburt.

~~$24.95~~

$21.95

~~$22.95~~

$17.95

~~$16.95~~

$15.95

CD for PC	Dinosaur Chess: Learn to Play - Excellent software for kids A fun way for children to learn to play chess Over 20 mini games and puzzles Play simplified and full chess games against the dinosaurs Entertaining and challenging Review and snapshots here	CD for PC	Advanced Chess School Advanced Chess School is an interactive tutorial for those unexperienced players, both children and adults, who have already learnt the rules of chess and now wish to become players of intermediate strength. Students will study essential concepts such as development, the center, fundamentals in chess tactics, basic endgame rules and much more!The program contains 2 large courses: “Theory – Essential Chess Knowledge” and “Playing Instructive Examples. Review and snapshots here	CD for PC	Chess Tactics for Beginners This program is based on a bestseller by the experienced coach Sergey Ivashchenko. Intended for beginners, both children and adults. Exercises arranged in five courses according to their increasing difficulty. Each course contains exercises for Practice and Test. The program includes positions from practical games, endgame studies as well as training examples. More than 1,300 tactical problems. You have to find the most important moves A built-in playing engine “Dragon” which can be called upon to analyze the problem
~~$34.95~~ $31.95		~~$34.95~~ $31.95		~~$34.95~~ $31.95
DVD (85 min)	Grandmaster Susan Polgar Learning Endgames the Easy Way vol 1: Chapter 1 On this Susan will cover all the most Important endgames for the novice player Chapter 2 Susan Covers all the Basic Pawn Endgames,Square rule,the Rook Pawn ,Opposition, Geometry,in chess,Two extra Pawns, the Pawn race,one side Queens first, King activity and lots more!!! Details here	DVD (85 min)	Grandmaster Susan Polgar Learning Endgames the Easy Way vol 2: Including 1.Rook versus 1 pawn 2.Rook versus 2 connected pawns 3.Rook versus Bishop and Knight 4. The Philidor and Lucena position 5. Multi-pawn Endgames 6. Rook and bishop versus a Rook 7.Rook versus 1 pawn, 2 pawns, 1Bishop 8.Rook and pawn versus 1 Rook Susan also covers Bishop Endgames, Knight Endgames, Bishop vs. Knight endgames, Queen endgames and lots more!!! Details here	DVD (120+ min)	Grandmaster Susan Polgar Learning Opening the Easy Way - Colle Zukertot: On This DVD Susan will teach you an exciting and dynamic easy to learn system to play The Colle- Zukertort. Susan Polgar brings you 20 years of her own experience with this opening which is perfect for the PLAYER WHO ONLY wants to spend 1/10 the time it normally takes to master an opening .So if you are looking to avoid well known deeply analyzed main theoretial openings lines and want to win games in and out of opening the Colle Zukertort System is for you Details here
~~$24.95~~ $19.95		~~$24.95~~ $19.95		~~$24.95~~ $19.95

Many other Polgar's DVDs - $19.95 each let me know what you need

Orders of over $65 will get complimentary chess cartoon calendar ($7.95, while supplies lasts) and my 14 pages memo Guide for Parents (Dec 2005) ($9.95)

Free shipping in US with 2 or more products ordered from my website. Otherwise, please add $3.95 below.

US Shipping - insured.

$3.95

Non-US orders, please e-mail me for shipping quote (minimum shipping cost is $12)

'Absolute Beginner' package - makes fantastic gift!

1. Teaching Chess Step by Step (Kasparov Chess Foundation) (3 books)

2. S. Polgar - Learning Chess the Easy Way: Chess for Absolute Beginners (DVD)

3. Dinosaur Chess: Learn to Play (CD for PC)

4. 14 pages memo Guide for Parents (Dec 2005)

~~$123~~
(25% off)
$92

The chess is booming as far as the children are concerned. I witnessed tremendous interest and success when

I attended the K-6 Nationals in 2004, 2006, 2007 and K-12 Supernationals in 2005

I get a lot of questions from parents interested in getting their children and themselves involved in chess. I offer both - the Q&A session with the parents (in-office or phone) as well as individual training session with the child (in-office). Also, for long-distance students who are children, I offer game reviews and recommendations via e-mail.

The basic low - cost options are:

My 14 pages memo Guide for Parents (Dec 2005) that covers in details the following topics:

1. Why to get your kids involved in chess.
2. Parent as a coach.
3. Chess equipment, books and software – target ratings, descriptions, how to use, etc....

4. Training at home – self and with adult.

5. Tournament participation.
6. My child made a significant progress, what is next?
7. Additional resources for parent.

* I also have links to the vendors of chess equipment. These links are not guaranteed to work and you should always exercise caution when ordering products on Internet.

Additionally you will receive How to Solve & Practice Training Exercises + set of sample training exercises.

$9.95

Question & Answer 30 minute Session for Parent

Easy access to experienced chess coach to get any of your questions answered quickly. Book recommendations, training exercises, opening preparation etc... Perfect for parents who can't come to my office in Philadelphia suburb. Child is not needed for the session. The session is done via Phone. I'll call to US-based parents, so no additional phone charge. Also, you will get the above mentioned memo Guide for Parents complimentary.

$55

Payments - check, money order, credit card via PayPal or cash.

Check or Money order can be mailed to

Igor Khmelnitsky

PO Box 60088

King of Prussia, PA 19406

My Training Offers

I offer the following services to parents who want to have their children evaluated and general recommendation on how to get them involved into chess.

I offer in-office training for children (parents are welcomed to attend) and phone consultations for parents.

Regular Training in my Office (King of Prussia, PA):

Evaluation Session - I will assess your child's general skills, chess level, attention span and readiness for chess training. Based on the evaluation, I can offer you training materials, recommend books and software, and suggest a training plan for studying at home and participating at the tournaments for children.

Follow up - typically, I see young children every 1-3 months, and rely in between on the training via books, software, parent's guidance, tournament participation.

Typical session with child of such age lasts about 90 - 120 minutes, and involves various game-tests, introduction to books and software, and discussion with parents.

$95 for 1hr, $140 for 1.5 hrs or $175 for 2hrs

The latter is preferred, unless child doesn't respond well to the session. Sessions are every 1-3 months

I am available for subsequent follow-ups via e-mail and/or phone for quick questions free of charge.

Payments - check, money order, credit card via PayPal or cash.

Questions, comments - please contact me