We believe that chess is the greatest strategy game in the world. All children should have the opportunity to learn this wonderful game. But you have to be a proficient player to appreciate its extraordinary beauty, excitement and complexity.

Because of this complexity it’s really more suited to older children and adults than younger children. However, bright and mature children with parents who are able to support them on a regular basis at home, may well benefit from starting younger. The problem is that, while it’s easy to learn the moves, it’s very hard to learn to play well.

There’s an enormous difference between playing legal moves and playing good moves, which, if you’re not a good player yourself is hard to appreciate. We’re often told by parents and teachers that their children are good players, but a cursory glance at the position on the board is enough to tell us they’re only playing random moves.

We hope that children joining this club – and their parents – will understand that you will only benefit from chess if you try to play good moves.

We’ll be publishing blog posts explaining more about this.