I wouldn't start by teaching openings specifically

apart from the very basic things like Scholar's mate, which he would encounter a lot against other kids. But, better to focus on more general positional concepts. Like developing the pieces quickly, understand that controlling the centre and be a strength, but also a target to be attacked, and being aware of undefended pieces.

Also good for a beginner to learn the basic mates with queen, rook, two bishops and a pawn, against a lone king. These not only teach winning technique, but also basic strategy about how the pieces can move effectively to control squares.

And also try to get him to focus on formulating a plan - so that every move has a purpose. Even if the plan is rubbish and counter productive at first, while he doesn't really understand the game, it's a crucial habit to get into. Rather than just moving pieces round the board with no particular aim in mind. These things will be really hard at first and won't come naturally at all, but will certainly pay off in the long term to give a much richer understanding of the game.

Of course, for a child it's imporatant to keep it a lot of fun as well, so good to focus on basic tactics. Forks, skewers, pins - stuff like that which are much clearer black and white - so you get instant positive feedback when you solve them. There are many pretty simple patterns that get ingrained by constant exposure to them during games or solving exercises. Chesstempo (User Posted Link is a good site for this. Initially the problems will be too hard, but then once you get the first few wrong they tailor to your level.

Regarding resources, lichess and chess.com (which has chesskid as their server for children) are the main playing sites. You can get games almost instantly and get matched against someone at your level - even complete beginners.

Posted By: Mecagoenti on April 25th 2018 at 10:34:42

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