Best Age To Learn Chess
28/08/2023
Many of my students and their parents ask me what is the best age to learn chess, my answer is that it depends on what your goals in chess are. In this article we are going to see some of the most common objectives and what are the ideal ages to achieve them.
The Objectives are Important
Before answering the question, it is important that we know the importance of being clear about your objective in chess.
If we do not set any objective, we will not be able to measure how far we have come or what we are lacking in order to reach it.
Instead, if we have a clear objective, we can measure our progress, see where we are failing or lacking and make changes to correct or improve our skills.
Without a clear objective, it is like walking in the dark without any light to help us see the way.
At the beginning when we first learn the game we do not have any objective in chess other than to enjoy the game but with time they will start to appear.
Best Age to Learn Chess
Now let's look at some of the most common goals that chess players set for themselves.
Beating someone or winning a tournament.
Many times we want to win it for a particular person such as our father, a member of our club or we want to win a tournament at school or in our city.
How old we are is not important, what is important is how much time we dedicate to your training and to improve our understanding and skills in chess.
Playing recreationally or for fun.
For many people chess is a hobby, they only play because they like chess, they only compete from time to time, they do not have competitive level objectives.
If enjoying this wonderful game is your only goal in it, of course age has no relevance, all we need is a board with all its pieces and a rival to enjoy a good afternoon playing this wonderful game.
Become a chess coach or arbiter
To dedicate yourself to teach chess or to be a tournament arbiter, age is not an impediment either, since what really matters here are your skills as a coach or arbiter even more than your skills as a chess player.
You can know the basic rules of chess and not have a great level playing chess to dedicate yourself to teach or arbitrate it.
Representing your country
For this objective it is already necessary that you have a good level of chess, since the players who represent their countries are a selection of the most skilled and young chess players that each country has.
It is easier to stand out in the early ages (up to 16 years old) so that the federation of our country asks us to represent it, but it also depends on the country because if there are many good players it will be a little more complex to stand out.
Obtaining a degree in chess (FM - IM - GM)
With time, many players begin to like competitive chess and the idea of obtaining a chess master title, such as FIDE Master, International Master or Grandmaster, comes to their minds.
To reach this goal, age is an important factor, since thanks to the chess engines all players are much better prepared, so starting at an early age between 6 and 10 years old helps a lot.
The importance of age in learning chess
The reason why age is so important is that when we are younger we have more energy, our senses are quicker and sharper, we have more time to dedicate to the study of chess since we do not have so many responsibilities and above all we learn much faster than when we are older. And to reach the level of mastery to obtain these titles it is necessary to have a lot of time for the study of chess and that our chess skills are in good shape as well.
The best age to learn chess is now
Even if you want to get a degree and you think it's too late for you, don't be discouraged, these are just recommendations. If you make the effort and dedicate the necessary time to chess, you will certainly get a great level playing.
Besides, chess will reward you with exceptional skills for your day to day life.
if you would like to start your journey in the world of chess do not forget to visit our beginners category.
What do you think is the best age to learn chess?
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