The future of chess: a game for toddlers.

You can find an article in today's on-line 12/19/2003 NY Times under
Travel Escapes section

At the National Scholastic K-12/Collegiate Chess Championships,
players who can barely tie their shoelaces are castling and double
pawning.

On 19 Dec 2003 15:26:45 -0800, (raylopez99)
wrote:

At the National Scholastic K-12/Collegiate Chess Championships,
players who can barely tie their shoelaces are castling and double
pawning.

My six-year-old has started. She knows most of the rules (not too
clear on stalemate, 3-move repetition, some of those things). She can
mate with K+R vs. K.


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In article ,
says...
On 19 Dec 2003 15:26:45 -0800, (raylopez99)
wrote:

At the National Scholastic K-12/Collegiate Chess Championships,
players who can barely tie their shoelaces are castling and double
pawning.

My six-year-old has started. She knows most of the rules (not too
clear on stalemate, 3-move repetition, some of those things). She can
mate with K+R vs. K.


-------------------------------------
Replace you know what by "j" to email.

What surprises me is how many in the K-3 bracket are already recording their
moves. (Of course for some, the accuracy of their move recording is
questionable.)

--
Chris Kantack
http://home.earthlink.net/~kantack/lcdchess/home.htm
(remove the "nospampls" from my email address if replying by email)

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 02:58:22 GMT, Chris Kantack
wrote:

What surprises me is how many in the K-3 bracket are already recording their
moves. (Of course for some, the accuracy of their move recording is
questionable.)

My first grader doesn't record them, but I think she could with just a
little teaching. She understands the algebraic names of the squares.

Speaking of accuracy, I've watched her school club play skittles - a
lot of illegal moves - mostly a king left in check, believing
stalemates with pieces on the board is a checkmate, and improper
castling (many varieties of that).

Also two weeks ago she accidently knocked over her K, and the opponent
claimed it as a resignation.


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The state of Washington maintains a scholastic rating system. Some numbers:
7000+ players, 100,000 games, 7000+ games played
this school year alone. I was amazed to see 1st graders with 100 tournament
games under their belt!

Illegal moves are not rare in these games. I wish chess software could
handle them. Just because computers don't make illegal moves doesn't mean
they aren't a part of the human game. While I suppose it could be difficult
to handle every conceivable type of illegal move that a kid could come up
with, software that handled 1. kings left in check 2. improper castling, and
3. moving a single piece incorrectly would probably account for the vast
majority of occurrences.


"Jud McCranie" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 02:58:22 GMT, Chris Kantack
wrote:

What surprises me is how many in the K-3 bracket are already recording
their
moves. (Of course for some, the accuracy of their move recording is
questionable.)

My first grader doesn't record them, but I think she could with just a
little teaching. She understands the algebraic names of the squares.

Speaking of accuracy, I've watched her school club play skittles - a
lot of illegal moves - mostly a king left in check, believing
stalemates with pieces on the board is a checkmate, and improper
castling (many varieties of that).

Also two weeks ago she accidently knocked over her K, and the opponent
claimed it as a resignation.


-------------------------------------
Replace you know what by "j" to email.

"Chris Kantack" wrote in message
k.net...
In article ,
says...
On 19 Dec 2003 15:26:45 -0800, (raylopez99)
wrote:

At the National Scholastic K-12/Collegiate Chess Championships,
players who can barely tie their shoelaces are castling and double
pawning.

My six-year-old has started. She knows most of the rules (not too
clear on stalemate, 3-move repetition, some of those things). She can
mate with K+R vs. K.


-------------------------------------
Replace you know what by "j" to email.

What surprises me is how many in the K-3 bracket are already recording
their
moves. (Of course for some, the accuracy of their move recording is
questionable.)

--
Chris Kantack
http://home.earthlink.net/~kantack/lcdchess/home.htm
(remove the "nospampls" from my email address if replying by email)

I suggested that even my first grade students record their games. One last
year found his result had been recorded incorrectly and proved his claim
with his score sheet. Since then he has been recording every game and most
are good enough to follow the whole game. To me it was much more shocking
how many 4th grade players did not record the game.

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 06:42:48 GMT, "David Kane"
wrote:

Illegal moves are not rare in these games. I wish chess software could
handle them. Just because computers don't make illegal moves doesn't mean
they aren't a part of the human game. While I suppose it could be difficult
to handle every conceivable type of illegal move that a kid could come up
with,

Actually it isn't hard. Just generate a list of legal moves for the
position and check that the move is one of them.


-------------------------------------
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In article ,
Jud McCranie wrote:

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 06:42:48 GMT, "David Kane"
wrote:

Illegal moves are not rare in these games. I wish chess software could
handle them. Just because computers don't make illegal moves doesn't mean
they aren't a part of the human game. While I suppose it could be difficult
to handle every conceivable type of illegal move that a kid could come up
with,

Actually it isn't hard. Just generate a list of legal moves for the
position and check that the move is one of them.



Or check that it ISN'T one of them, then flag it in the score as
illegal. I think it's clear that chess software SHOULD check to see if
moves are legal, but I agree allowing the user to enter an illegal
move--maybe by some kind of override--would be a good feature.

I once read about someone at a loss for how to enter the following:

White pawn h5, black pawns at h6 and g7

Black plays 1. . . . g5, and white plays 2. hxh6 e.p. In other words, he
made the right move with his pawn for 2. hxg5 e.p., but removed the
black h-pawn from the board instead. His opponent looked at him funny
but didn't say anything.

--Harold Buck


"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 19:46:54 -0500, Harold Buck
wrote:

White pawn h5, black pawns at h6 and g7

Black plays 1. . . . g5, and white plays 2. hxh6 e.p. In other words, he
made the right move with his pawn for 2. hxg5 e.p., but removed the
black h-pawn from the board instead. His opponent looked at him funny
but didn't say anything.

Once I had a somewhat similar thing with e.p. I had a P on my 3rd,
opponent had a P on an adjacent file on the 5th. I moved my P to the
4th, opponent took it "e.p.". I didn't say anything because it didn't
matter much.


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I have kindergardeners notating if they have been in my chess club for two
semesters.
Coach Leopold


"Chris Merli" wrote in message
news:tO_Eb.441718$275.1311797@attbi_s53...

"Chris Kantack" wrote in message
k.net...
In article ,
says...
On 19 Dec 2003 15:26:45 -0800, (raylopez99)
wrote:

At the National Scholastic K-12/Collegiate Chess Championships,
players who can barely tie their shoelaces are castling and double
pawning.

My six-year-old has started. She knows most of the rules (not too
clear on stalemate, 3-move repetition, some of those things). She can
mate with K+R vs. K.


-------------------------------------
Replace you know what by "j" to email.

What surprises me is how many in the K-3 bracket are already recording
their
moves. (Of course for some, the accuracy of their move recording is
questionable.)

--
Chris Kantack
http://home.earthlink.net/~kantack/lcdchess/home.htm
(remove the "nospampls" from my email address if replying by email)

I suggested that even my first grade students record their games. One
last
year found his result had been recorded incorrectly and proved his claim
with his score sheet. Since then he has been recording every game and
most
are good enough to follow the whole game. To me it was much more shocking
how many 4th grade players did not record the game.