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Chessville
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Survival Guide for Chess Parents Reviewed by Phil Innes
Tanya Jones is the chess-mom of Gawain, who first made the headlines at age 9 when he beat an IM. She offers us this book of advice on chess parenting as a map of the terrain, and chapter by chapter covers most of its known landmarks, and all-in-all is the chess-mom we wish we all had!
“The whole question of grading, regional variations, junior bonuses, official efficiency and premeditated in- or de-flation is one of immense emotional complexity, and its discussion can while away long hours in the parents’ waiting room until someone snaps tearfully ‘Well, it’s all right for you in the North/Greater London Area/South West isn’t it?’ and flounces off to check the pairing lists.”
(On major tournaments) “Even if, by some alchemical combination of talent, hard work and luck, Charlie does eventually qualify, he should not expect, of the first occasions, to play more than one or two games against serious titled opposition. Indeed, he might well have none at all, bobbing about at the bottom of the tournament along with the other flotsam and jetsam of young struggling and qualified-by-the-skin-of-their-teeth players. So long as he anticipates this, he is likely to have an enjoyable, if exhausting two weeks, and to find his own chess in the future to be undoubtedly, if inexplicably improved.”
“… in view of this possibility to provide Alice with a drink in a small screw-top or sports drink bottle, something with a secure top and small footprint, rather than a can or glass. Most juniors drink water or a soft drink during the game and it is a good idea for Alice to have something like this with her at the beginning of the round, especially during summer games, when playing halls can get very hot.”
Parents are offered an idea of what its like to play competitive chess, both psychologically and also with a glimpse at the stimuli received by the player. This is a sensible and practical book that would seem to benefit any chess parent of an enthusiastic junior, written with a sense of humor, right down to what to eat and drink at a tournament; the consequences of travel before a game; various demands made on a child’s time and whose responsibility it is to cope with it all! As well as all this good advice on coping with the young prodigy, the book also features a dozen annotated games and a lexicon of chess terms to help parent and junior understand both beginning and advanced chess ideas – as well as where to look for more. The author’s insights into Gawain’s chess-playing adventures are well illustrated over the 10 chapters with anecdotes and episodes drawn from his chess experiences to-date, and contain a wealth of wholesome psychological insights. The book is a valuable one not only to chess parents of young players, but because of its generous and practical extent, a very useful one to all scholastic advisors. Indeed, as well as being a chess-mom, Tanya Jones writes comic novels, and has also been a teacher, and this combination has produced the best book of this type I have read.
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