Advice for Parents about online chess for their children
If parents are interested in allowing their children to play chess online there are lots of sites available, many of which are free to use. However there are a number of features of which they should be aware with regard to Safeguarding. Some of the sites offer games against a chess computer or engine; others offer games against other players. If opting for the latter then make sure you supervise your child when they are online to ensure there is no inappropriate “chat” or choose a site that does not allow “chat”. One such website is ChessKid.com plenty of videos and puzzles plus games against the chess engine and against other players, but no “chat” facility. The only communication a player can have with their opponent is to click on a selection of icons that say “Thanks” or “Good move”, for example. The website is free to a certain level and then $50 (approx £35) for an annual subscription. The WCU have no commercial arrangement with ChessKid.com but parents should satisfy themselves of the Safeguarding features of this and any other website that they allow their child to access unsupervised.
FIDE is also planning some other activities, like weekly lectures. For those parents who are now in shelter-in-place with their kids and developing an improvised “homeschooling” program, FIDE will produce and distribute some basic chess-teaching materials. And FIDE will start a digital library on the FIDE website, giving access to all chess lovers to selective chess books, which authors are kindly granting permission to reproduce digitally.
