Parents: Communicate to Dan What You
Like and What You Expect!
National Master Dan Heisman (610-649-0750;
e-mail Dan) -
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Lessons should be fun.
Ideally, chess lessons should always be fun. After all, chess is a fun game, most students feel that winning is more fun, and lessons help you win, so chess lessons should be fun. In fact, that is my "-1" Guideline: "If you are not having fun, you are in the wrong place!" – and I do my best to make sure lessons are fun for each and every student. While chess is a job for me, I understand it is a game for my students.
However, everything is not always ideal. Most students and parents pick general improvement as their goal; if so, you are paying me to help your student get better and I take that responsibility very seriously. (Note: if you are paying me NOT to make the student better, but just to do some fun chess stuff, that should be communicated clearly at the first lesson or two – it makes a big difference in my lesson plan.). Also I never tell my students that they have to take chess seriously or study as hard as I did – that would be unwise and unfair. However, if students want to improve as much as the best students do, then a lot of work is involved. I did that work because for me it was fun – but not everyone feels this way.
Not everyone wants to pay the price to get better – and that is OK!
Many students do NOT really want to
get better if they actually have to work at it, or think hard during every move
of a game. It is important to note that chess is not so beneficial for
the brain if one doesn't consistently think hard (that would be similar to
going to a gym just to lift up a barbell or two and leave!). I do expect
my students to try their best when playing.
There is no magic to getting better…
So a basic dilemma exists: for those really expecting to improve: chess lessons and the accompanying homework require effort. Typical homework for beginners is to play and record at least two games and to do some tactical problems (taking much less time than music homework!). While this homework would be expected for music lessons, chess is a game, so sometimes parents and students don't expect it or at least don't really take it very seriously. For some, this unfortunately causes lessons to be less fun than hoped. But there is no fairy dust I can sprinkle on the student to make them magically better!
Think out your goals carefully – maybe just playing in tournaments would be better…
There can be middle ground. Some young students (especially below age 9) who love to play chess would be better off with an occasional lesson, instead primarily playing in tournaments or at a club until their desire to improve gets great enough to motivate them to work. For almost all of my students (and my son!), playing in tournaments is great fun. Of course, without work, many of chess' beneficial side effects - disciplined thinking, organizational skills, rewards from your efforts, etc. - are diminished, but sometimes it is better not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I always feel very bad when a student who loves chess quits both lessons and tournaments just because lessons or homework was less fun than expected.
Less rigorous lesson goals are possible...
For other students, perhaps the goal of maximum improvement should be changed toward a more relaxed goal, such as understanding some of the great joys of the chess world, with improvement as more or less a side issue. That way the expectations of the lessons (and my homework!) are diminished. Admittedly, the student will progress less rapidly, but that is OK. Think carefully about your goals…
That leaves three general levels of possible involvement: 1) Normal improvement goals, with the work and expected benefits (as with piano lessons), 2) Primarily fun goals, with diminished expectations, work, and benefits, but still beneficial, and 3) Few lessons, but primarily play in tournaments and clubs – still with benefits, but without any real expectation of improvement. (There are also possible shades of the above, as well). Let me know! I am always interested in hearing feedback on my lessons, so long as we can work together to make future lessons more enjoyable!
If the work is fun, then the work will get done…
My students who enjoy their lessons the most are the ones with the most lofty goals, who enjoy the work and thus work hard, and who reap the benefits of their work (in terms of self worth and satisfaction, not just winning). And the ones that want to work hard are a good percentage of my students – but it is better for all concerned if some students' parents realize that, for some, more moderate expectations are more reasonable and perhaps even more beneficial. Hopefully, chess will remain a fun game for all!
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