I have had a tournament where a young player was not able to keep score during his games. What age is a good age to start taking 5% or 10 minutes away from playing time from players not able to keep score? This player was maybe in 1st grade or kindergarten by my guess. We did not take away from his time. Rule 15A1 with its TD Tip applies here.
I’d say 3rd or 4th grade, but it depends on whether the player is part of a school team or has a good coach/chess tutor. I’ve seen first graders keep immaculate scoresheets and Masters who just scribble something semi-legible.
There are some scoresheets specifically designed to help younger players.
I was trying to find these the other day - I think they might be easier to automatically scan than standard notation - but failed; do you have a link or two?
Thanks. Does anybody sell these pre-printed on 6"x9" pads, or should I just look into my nearest Kinko’s equivalent?
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I thought of making a smaller format, but then recalled mostly used by much younger kids who probably benefit from the large format. They may use them for post game analysis, but only short term – perhaps after analysis with parent or coach.
8.5x11 is just more cumbersome on a table that already has a chessboard etc. than 6x9, is what I was thinking about.
How many moves can you get on a 6x9 formatted page while keeping each move large enough for younger players to be able to fill them out?
I try to guilt the 3rd and 4th graders into keeping score by letting them know that I teach my kindergarteners how to keep score. I’ll tell them to try … I’m not requiring them to be perfect but I want them to try. But I’ve followed a local practice that we don’t force the Ks and 1st graders to keep score but expect 2nd graders and up to do it.