handprop
11-19-2009, 10:44 AM
Teaching a 6 year old chess
I thought I would write this before I traveled up north for hunting season.
I have played chess since I was a child and have come to love the game for its strategy. My daughter wanted to learn how so we could play together but it was hard because I’m a terrible teacher. It didn’t take long for her to understand the principle behind the game, she just couldn’t win. As a parent it’s hard for me to play poorly just so she could win because that in itself is kind of like cheating.
My solution was to teach her strategy. Chess strategy can get really complicated and my daughter was beginning to get really frustrated. I came to the conclusion I was doing a poor job as a teacher and needed something simple for her to at least have a chance.
Many years ago a chess player explained to me that you can win chess 90% of the time if you can occupy the middle four squares of the board with any of the pieces in the back row, it didn’t matter as long as you held the four square position.
It’s funny because after about a week she learned how to get to the four squares and she won her first game. I began to think how amazing it was that a 6 year old could actually compete with an adult who has played chess for many years just by holding a four square position. Once she learned about the four squares she began to develop other strategies working off the four square principal. My daughter is now 8 and is considered a competitive chess player.
Isn’t marketing a business similar? I think it is. My question is what are your four squares and do you occupy them each and every day?
Each business is unique and what’s in the four squares is also unique as it pertains to each business. I look at what I do for a living and I always need to ask myself if I’m concentrating on the four squares. That by itself can really build a strong marketing strategy and the rest of the strategy is built off the four squares. It’s easy for a business to think of marketing as a complicated assortment of thousands of pieces working together but many times if you can concentrate on just four marketing methods that are required to have a great company the rest will sort itself out and be easier to manage.
Something to think about.
Mike
I thought I would write this before I traveled up north for hunting season.
I have played chess since I was a child and have come to love the game for its strategy. My daughter wanted to learn how so we could play together but it was hard because I’m a terrible teacher. It didn’t take long for her to understand the principle behind the game, she just couldn’t win. As a parent it’s hard for me to play poorly just so she could win because that in itself is kind of like cheating.
My solution was to teach her strategy. Chess strategy can get really complicated and my daughter was beginning to get really frustrated. I came to the conclusion I was doing a poor job as a teacher and needed something simple for her to at least have a chance.
Many years ago a chess player explained to me that you can win chess 90% of the time if you can occupy the middle four squares of the board with any of the pieces in the back row, it didn’t matter as long as you held the four square position.
It’s funny because after about a week she learned how to get to the four squares and she won her first game. I began to think how amazing it was that a 6 year old could actually compete with an adult who has played chess for many years just by holding a four square position. Once she learned about the four squares she began to develop other strategies working off the four square principal. My daughter is now 8 and is considered a competitive chess player.
Isn’t marketing a business similar? I think it is. My question is what are your four squares and do you occupy them each and every day?
Each business is unique and what’s in the four squares is also unique as it pertains to each business. I look at what I do for a living and I always need to ask myself if I’m concentrating on the four squares. That by itself can really build a strong marketing strategy and the rest of the strategy is built off the four squares. It’s easy for a business to think of marketing as a complicated assortment of thousands of pieces working together but many times if you can concentrate on just four marketing methods that are required to have a great company the rest will sort itself out and be easier to manage.
Something to think about.
Mike