Children and Adults in Chess


Today I have received an e-mail from one of my pupils. He asked me Why children usually have better
progress in chess than adults?”

Different people asked me about it many times already. A lot of adult chess players tries to understand why they cant obtain a good progress in chess for years, while children achieve such goals very
quickly.

It is important to understand it, because it will help you to be on the right way and to improve your chess skills quickly.

   Thats why this issue deals with the topic: Children and adults in chess.


Ive had pupils from 6 to 65 years old. So I can easily compare them and make up some conclusions.

Yes, I agree that usually (not always!) children get better progress. There are 3 main causes:

1Children are in a more comfortable situation. They dont have to earn money for living, they have
less work and responsibility etc. Thus young players can concentrate themselves on chess and get
better results.

However, it is not the main cause. An adult can focus on a chess study as well, and he/she can work even harder.

2Children are more flexible. In one of the previous e-mails I wrote you how it is important to be ready
for changes. Nevertheless, I’d like to repeat it again, because it is an extremely important aspect.

Here are the typical mistakes relating to this  item:
- A player doesnt want to change his opening, which he/she played for some time (months, years)
before.
- A player is not ready to change his playing style.
- He\she doesnt make changes in a training.
- And so on…

Such players keep their style of playing and training. Therefore they keep their current results as well. Certainly they will have the same results for many years and will have a very little progress.

Unfortunately it happens with some adult players, while children are usually ready to try something new.

3.Children trust in what a coach says.

As you know I developed several chess video courses. I receive a lot of feedback from the people, who have studied these courses. For example,a few minutes ago I received this e-mail:

=============================
Hi, Im glad to tell you that after studying only the 1.1 of The Grandmaster’s Secrets” and applying
the principles on every move I won first time against the personality John on Chessmaster! Best
Regards. Giulio Cremonese
=============================

The GM Secrets
Usually the students report about their success. They got the results, which previously seemed
impossible for them. Sometimes their results are so good, that it was unexpected even for me! For instance one customer wrote me:

=============================
After studying of the course The Grandmasters Secrets till now I have not lost any game! In the last
tournament I scored 9,5 from 12 and got the 1st place.
=============================

It is important to note that he wrote me this e-mail after 3 and a half months after the purchase of the course!! Also I know that he played in a few tournaments and raised his rating very much.

Unfortunately there is a small group of the customers, whose progress are not that great. Of course I
ask these people how did they study the course anddid they perform the exercises from the
practical part.

The answers of such persons are very similar. They answer me something like this: I have studied this
and this lessons. The lesson seems not so important for me now, so I skipped it. Yes, I made the
exercises from the practical part. I did it not as you said, but because I thought that it would be
better.”

As you can see such persons make only a little part of a training normally. They ignore and modify many important tasks. Of course it is hard to expect good results with this attitude.

Children trust in what a teacher says. They simply follow the teacher’s recommendations. Thats why they achieve good progress! Adults sometimes prefer to focus on their own ideas.

You have to understand one thing:
> If you want to become a Grandmaster – you should follow the Grandmaster’s recommendations.
> If you want to be an amateur player you should follow the amateurs recommendations.

Now I have a question for you: If you are an amateur player and follow your own recommendation
whom will you become?




Thats why I want to intensify this idea: you should trust in what a teacher says, even if you dont
understand it (or think that it is not important, not necessary, not urgent etc).

Just do it!And you will achieve your goal!

Let’s make up a conclusion. Children are often get better progress than adults. It happens because of 1
objective reason (which is not so important) and 2 psychological reasons (which depends on You!).

Thus an adult also can get a huge and quick chess progress! (and I can tell you numerous examples!)
He/she only needs to have a right approach and some concentration on a chess training.