Kids need to be taken care of when engaging in any online games. It is normal to have several concerns before you let your child play chess online. Here are some fundamental factors that should protect your children while they play chess:
- Safety
Every activity done online requires and chess is not exceptional. Some of the most common online safety advice includes:
- Use a fake name instead of using your real name. Using your real name as a user name may put you in danger of people with bad intentions. For instance, you are from a well-known family, which may attract people with the wrong choices.
- Do not include personal information such as; where you live, your school, or even your work plan.
- All interactions should be online.
Online interaction makes it easier for the internet to keep records in case of any criminal incidents.
Moreover, whenever children are playing chess online, they should be under the supervisor of their parents. In this case, the parents can monitor all the activities taking place as the child plays the game. The parents should block and prevent their kids from sharing photos and messages with their opponents.
- Study the basics
There are three things that beginners must learn. They include basic endgame checking’s, opening principles, and tactics.
An example of basic endgame checking is checkmating a king and a queen. Learning checkmate is vital because if one is a queen ahead, one should win with that advantage. It is easy to understand the basic endgame checking by just researching.
Opening principles should determine your first ten moves. The regulations include controlling the center of the board, getting your bishops and knights to play, and casting. Casting is when a king moves two squares a rook; the rook then hops over the king, landing closer to the middle of the board. Opening principles are challenging things for beginners to learn online since there are many opening principles.
Beginners should ensure they practice tactics. These are moves that result in possible immediate gains. Most chess websites offer tactics that are for every level. Whenever you get a tactic right, the site gives you a harder one to solve and when to get wrong on the next problem is more accessible.
- Advocate for fair play
Success is always described as winning a game, winning a tournament, or gaining points for chess ratings when playing online chess games. Cheating is possible even when there is no money to win at stake. The cheating players mainly aim at raising their ratings but eventually, they suffer consequences.
Many online sites have developed means to capture cheating players. When cheating is detected, the players can either be penalized or even banned from playing on the site. To encourage fair play, define success in different approaches. For example, you can define success as the amount of time spent rather than the game won. Applaud the kids throughout their improvements.
The above points are some of the critical considerations taken before letting your kids play online. However, ensure that you’ve done further research and be on the lookout for more measures.
