Sorry to trouble everyone, but I am wondering. I myself don't know anything about chess - wait: correct that. I know how the pieces are supposed to move, but don't know how to play.
My son has an interest and I encourged him to join the local 8th grade chess club. After a month, he reported that he was dropping out. Turns out that he couldn't get a game because he was too easy to beat. I went to one meeting to see how it was run. In addition to the facility advisor, there were 9 or 10 kids - 4 of whom were not playing: my son and another "weak" player and 2 others. The reason the two others weren't playing was that no one could beat them and so no one would play them. They left early.
Now, I learned to play back in school during a time when chess was undergoing a resurgence. My roomie taught me. However, despite my best efforts, I quickly ran up something like a 0-56 record and realized that I simply was not smart enough to play. Occasional dabbling in the years since have re-enforced that opinion.
I was once told that you simply can't teach chess, not really. You either get it or you don't and that's that. Never having won a game myself, I understand this. My question is: has anything changed in 25+ years or should I tell my son to just drop it and move on?
Thanks
