Apps, books, and online tools for teaching kids how to play Chess

Teaching chess to kids is a great way to help them develop their cognitive, social, and emotional skills. The game of chess requires children to use logic, analysis, strategy, and imagination to plan and execute their moves. Studies have shown that children who play chess regularly significantly improve their visual memory and concentration. Chess helps children to focus on two different things at once – their moves and their opponent’s moves. Chess teaches children to think ahead, evaluate alternatives, anticipate consequences, and solve problems. Chess also helps children to make decisions under pressure and learn from their mistakes. Playing chess can enhance children’s mathematical, verbal, and spatial abilities. Chess can also improve children’s reading, writing, and logical reasoning skills. Studies have shown that chess can boost children’s IQ, test scores, and grades. Chess also develops children’s emotional intelligence (EQ) by teaching them to cope with emotions such as frustration, disappointment, joy, and anger.

The benefits of chess for kids are:

It develops logic, critical thinking, and creativity.
It increases concentration and memory.
It improves problem-solving and decision-making skills.
It boosts academic performance.
It fosters good character and emotional intelligence

History of Chess

The rules of chess as they are known today emerged in Europe at the end of the 15th century, with standardization and universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Chess has also been influenced by various cultures and regions, such as Mongolia, China, Japan, Russia, and America. Chess can be traced back to its earliest known predecessor, called chaturanga, in India in the 6th century AD.

Greatest Chess players of all time

Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand have all been world champions and have dominated their eras with remarkable skill, creativity, and innovation.

There are many books on chess for children that can help them learn the game and improve their skills. Here are some of them:

Chess 101 by Dave Schloss: A beginner’s guide that covers the basics of chess, such as the rules, the pieces, the board, the notation, the tactics and the strategy.

Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess by Bobby Fischer and Stuart Margulies: A classic book that uses puzzles and diagrams to teach the principles of chess from the perspective of a world champion.

Winning Chess Strategies for Kids by Jeff Coakley: A comprehensive book that covers all aspects of chess, such as openings, middlegames, endgames, tactics, checkmates, puzzles and more.

The Batsford Book of Chess for Children by Sabrina Chevannes: A friendly and fun book that introduces chess to children with colorful illustrations, stories and quizzes.

The Steps Method by Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden: A series of books that follow a structured and progressive method to teach chess to children of different levels

Online platforms and tools that can help you teach chess to your kids

ChessKid.com: A free site with lessons, puzzles, videos and more for kids to learn and play chess online. It also has a safe environment and a 24/7 playing platform.

Kaabil Kids: An online chess coaching program for kids in India with four different levels, frequent tournaments and tests, and a 24/7 playing platform.

Lichess: A free and open-source site with various features such as lessons, puzzles, tournaments, analysis tools and more for chess players of all levels.

You can also check out other sites like Chess.com, Chess24, ChessBase, Chess.com, ChessKid.com, Family Fun Chess, and The Chess World and more

10 Apps for training kids on Chess

ChessKid: A chess app for kids that is ad-free and 100% safe. It has lessons, puzzles, games, videos and more for kids to learn and play chess online and offline.

ChessMatec: A chess app for kids that is gamified, animated and colorful. It has lessons, puzzles, games, quizzes and more for kids to learn chess from the basics to advanced levels.

Magnus Trainer: A chess app for kids that is created by the world champion Magnus Carlsen. It has lessons, games, puzzles and more for kids to learn chess in a fun and interactive way.

Play Magnus: Study chess in a fun and effective way under the reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen.

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf : Play chess alongside Dr. Wolf as he explains everything step-by-step, points out strategic ideas, and alerts you to your mistakes

Chess – Analyze: This is a free app for Android that analyzes chess games using multiple chess engines. The app uses Stockfish, a powerful chess engine, to analyze a given position and compare it to a human evaluation.

ChessGenius: This is a chess-playing computer program developed by Richard Lang. Lang has written programs that have won the World Computer Chess Championship 10 times

Chess Light: This is a puzzle game for Android and iOS that is inspired by chess. It has 180 puzzles, 6 difficulty levels, and a hint system. Chess Light is a free app from Pyrosphere

Chess Pro with Coach: Chess Coach Pro is a chess app that offers educational and developmental features to help players learn the game. The app includes 4,500 puzzles and 16 openings. Each puzzle reveals a tactic or trick, and players must guess the next move to solve the puzzle. The app also has exclusive sections on traps, debuts, and endgames.

Chess Studio: Chess Studio is an app for chess players to read chess books and play over the moves on screen. The app was designed by chess players for chess players. Grandmaster John Nunn, a three-time World Chess Solving Champion, oversaw the app’s design.

Some platforms that offer online courses in chess

Chess.com offers free chess lessons from top masters and coaches. You can follow a guided study plan to learn openings, endgames, strategy, and tactics.

Udemy has a variety of chess courses for different levels and topics. You can learn chess strategy from scratch, improve your calculation skills, master the Sicilian defense, and more.

BoldChess has a step-by-step approach to learning chess online for free. You can learn the basics, the endgames, the tactical and positional motifs, the openings, and famous games

Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, teaches chess on MasterClass. You can learn his strategies, tactics, and techniques for all phases of the game.

IchessU is a platform that provides live online chess lessons for kids and adults, with specialized chess courses from beginners to advanced players. You can find a chess coach who suits your needs and goals.

Superprof is a website that connects you with chess teachers near you or online. You can browse their profiles, reviews, and rates, and book a free trial lesson with them3.

Charvik Academy is an online chess coaching center in India that offers FIDE-certified coaches for all levels of players. You can learn chess tactics, openings, middlegames, and endgames, and get access to practice sessions and analysis tools