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The King's Men Sun, Dec 26, 1971 – Page 5 · The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com
When to learn chess? The younger the better.
From time to time, somebody will ask, “What is the best age to learn to play chess?” And the answer, based upon the experience of the masters, would be, “The earlier the better.”
There have been very few top-ranking players who didn't learn the rules and moves within a few years after they got out of their swaddling clothes.
The legendary Paul Morphy was barely tall enough to look over the chessboard on a table when he was playing at master strength. Adolf Anderssen learned the game from his father at the age of 9. Emanuel Lasker was taught the moves by an older brother at the age of 10 or 12. Jose Capablanca was champion of Cuba when he was 12. Dr. Alexander Alekhine learned the royal game at his mother's knees. Bobby Fischer was taught the moves by an older sister when he was 6. Sammy Reshevsky was on a world tour giving exhibitions as a 9-year-old.
The young mind is elastic, impressionable, retentive. It is an age at which learning comes easily. And the player who learns young has an advantage in time over those who wait until adulthood to take up the game. He has too much of a lead to be easily overtaken.
This is not to say that, if you missed an opportunity to learn chess as a child, you should pass it up as an adult. It is never too late to learn and enjoy the game, and if you show exceptional aptitude for it, you can make up a lot of lost time very quickly.
Speaking of youth, here's a game by Mark Diesen, who at 12 was the junior champion of Maryland last year, and he has since won many honors at the chessboard. He learned the game at the age of 10, after watching his father, a USCF expert, play.
