Are we all old and male?

As a 36 year old, going to 37 at the end of this year, male i wondered who is busy and intrested in the course we are following.
If i read carefully enough i would say that most are in their 30ties or older and male. Or am i wrong?

Male 35, I'm guessing this will be a fairly common pattern

Male 30!

Male mid 40s

looks like I am the old one of the bunch. 46 yr old male with two kids ages 10 & 8. Hoopy...whats sup? what is mid 40's?
in my opinion, life is just starting.

Chess?
I'm 43 (birthday soon)!
4 kids ranging from 2 to 17!! Taking up course so that I can learn properly kids don't learn my bad habits and get bored. I stopped playing from 15 to 42. Too much studying opening theory and not enjoying (learning chess). Don't know if you missed my other post. Do you have a different name on playchess.com? Can't find you!

I'm 39, married but no kids...that probably will start this year....

I'm male, 58, married with 3 children - 2 of whom are older than some of you guys!

male 36

43:M

Seems that we are all "OLD" men ^^

yes it is sad to see, this is all we have. but i still love it!! I think i need a nap.

63 and one-half: M

Well, I try to think young.

That's the greatest thing about chess. At the fun tournament I was at last weekend the oldest player had to be close to 80, and the youngest was a girl just 5 years old. Her dad beat me out of second place, so I'm training my 4 year old grand daughter to take her out next year!

My 5 year old son is doing ok, but he lacks the attention span to cope with a whole game. He would play waaaay too fast. But he's pretty good at snapping up loose pieces and finding back rank mates.

BorgQueen wrote:My 5 year old son is doing ok, but he lacks the attention span to cope with a whole game. He would play waaaay too fast. But he's pretty good at snapping up loose pieces and finding back rank mates.

Outstanding! Any suggestions on how to start teaching someone so young?

Sure. First thing is to get them interested. I did this by playing tactics problems on my computer and my son noticed and asked me about what I was doing.

Above all: let it be fun for them. Kids that age will want to take 5 pieces with one move. LET THEM! At least for a while. Don't make them spend too much time at once. As soon as they get bored of it, let them go play something else. ALWAYS encourage them that they did well (just trying is doing well!) so they feel the experience was a positive one.

To start: get them to name the pieces.

Then show them how to set up the pieces and let them set them up on a real board.

Next: get them to move rooks, bishops and queen around. Introduce how the knight moves and that it can jump! Don't expect them to get knight moves too quickly.

Next: get them to move the king around and introduce pawns and how they capture. Don't bother with EP yet! Show knights again.

Next show them how pawns can move two squares on move one. Show knights again and remind them how pawns capture differently to how they move.

Show them castling.

Next show them a typical opening that is really easy and thematic: e4, e5, Nf3, Nc6, Nc3, Nf6, Bc4, Bc5, 0-0, 0-0, Be3, Be6, Qd2, Qd7, Re1, Re8, Rd1, Rd8, something like that.

Set up positions where there is a hung piece. Get them to solve it. Point out errors. When they find the winning move, reward them with a gold star or something!

NEVER EVER get angry or show signs of frustration when they make mistakes!

Hope that helps :-)

Thanks, she's already asking.

I'll keep refering back to this guide as time goes by and see what happens.

soon we'll have grandmaster kids here

Already training your kid then, BDK?

Might be a bit young yet! :p

PawnCustodian wrote:Thanks, she's already asking.

I'll keep refering back to this guide as time goes by and see what happens.

Let us know how she gets on! How old is she now?

BorgQueen wrote:Might be a bit young yet! :p

Let us know how she gets on! How old is she now?

4-1/2 now. I'll follow your advice and just try to be supportive and see just how far her curiosity take her.

4½ is a great age to start chess!

Best of luck to you and your daughter :-)

Male 35 years.. old. !!

35 is not old!

44yr M, training so that I can be some competition to my daughter!

I just turned 34 last month and like everyone else I am M.