Take him to participate in Scholastic Chess Tournaments and let him test the waters. It helps if you can get his entire chess club from school to participate, because then you at least win a team prize and the kids are not disappointed if they don't do well. You may need to do the organizing to the extent that you want to organize the school club participation - email list and contact address of parents, list of scholastic competitions, car pools, snacks, group pictures, write up in school newsletter, t-shirts, yearbook pictures etc to keep the momentum going

The chess clubs in schools, rec centers, daycares, PTAs are usually run by vendors like Silver Knights or independent coaches. They are not at all inclined your kid to participate in the real scholastic competions so going to the local, state and national tournaments is on you. Also, the people in the know who have their own kids, teams, schools, clubs in the play will misguide you so do your own research

My favorites websites for tournaments -

MD Chess. https://www.mdchess.com/

US Chess Federation https://new.uschess.org/

Virginia Chess Federation https://www.vachess.org/

The beauty of Chess is that no one can stop your kid from participating and increasing in their ranking if they are good.

Don't be a lazy parent. Don't stick to play online games and tournaments only and think that you are doing what you can do. Chess require studying, thinking, practicing, nerves, brains, stamina, patience, accuracy in calculation etc.

Stupid question get stupid answers

How’s is it a question? My son took zoom chess lessons for a few years and then stopped - treat it as any other activity. It’s great for logical thinking!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son did a few silver knights tournaments at that age and enjoyed them.

did he do lessons to prepare? or other organized study?

He played at his elementary school chess club and played online at chess.com and watched some YouTube videos tube videos on beginner strategy. But he didn’t have organized study.

Anonymous wrote:My son did a few silver knights tournaments at that age and enjoyed them.

did he do lessons to prepare? or other organized study?

My son did a few silver knights tournaments at that age and enjoyed them.

DS7 joined the chess club at school and got really into it and says he's not having fun playing there anymore cuz he's "too good". I talked to his teacher who asked if he wants to study privately and prepare to play tournaments. How do I decide if this something worth pursuing. The way the teacher described it seems like it would be akin to playing a sport or instrument, an hour a day of playing online plus puzzles. How did your kids get into this, are private lessons worth it or should I try to sign him up for some more advanced group lessons. Most seem to be over Zoom, is that good for a 2nd grader? Or just let him continue to play online for fun and watch youtube videos? I feel like sports is an easier decision to make than this!