A Survival Guide for Chess Parents, is published by Everyman Chess in Britain and the United States. It is available from bookshops and chess suppliers.
what it says on the cover.....
Do you have a child who is interested in chess, but you're not sure how to help? In Survival Guide for Chess Parents, Tanya Jones concentrates on the numerous aspects of being a 'chess parent' and answers the many questions facing those with chess-playing children. There's certainly more to this than meets the eye. Problems are as diverse as 'How can I help in the very early stages?', 'How do I find suitable clubs and tournaments?', 'Should I watch when he or she is playing?' and 'How do I find a good chess coach?' Jones also tackles aspects such as chess and education, plus the ever-increasing role of computers and the Internet. Whether your child is just starting out in the game or is a budding prodigy, this book is essential reading.
what other people say....
The author is the mother of Gawain Jones, the 16-year-old English chess
prodigy, now of IM strength, and a writer of comic novels in her own right.
Clearly, a good sense of humour is required of any parent who finds that his or
her offspring becomes infected by the ‘chess bug’. But we have no need to
fear for the author, who has clearly overcome all the seemingly insurmountable
hurdles put in the way of the chess parent, and is now sufficiently ‘savvy’
to be able to teach the next generation of parents. The reviewer examined the
book for any of the usual tell-tale signs of cynicism and bitterness against
chess, but found none. Ms Jones has put chess players and people under the
microscope, examined us closely for peculiarities, and pronounced us normal.
Well, “mainly harmless” anyway, as in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s
Guide to The Galaxy. Her narrative is interspersed with some games played
and annotated by her son. Particularly good are the explanations of chess
technical terms in the footnotes. We have no qualms in recommending this highly
literate and amusing account of the realities of chess parenting. Indeed, we
look forward to further titles from her: perhaps a ‘Chess Parent Challenge’
quiz book? “Your six-year-old has just poked his opponent in the eye with a
captured bishop: do you (a) give him a clip around the ear; (b) call a lawyer;
(c) say, loudly and clearly, ‘I’ve never seen this child before’ and leave
the room at high speed”, etc, etc. JS
(British Chess Magazine)
This is an instructive and amusing guide for “chess parents” written by the mother of well-known English junior Gawain Jones. The style is witty and ironic and is written from an English perspective, and so is likely to appeal (and be most useful) to English-speaking parents on this side of the pond. Nevertheless, much of the book is of general application. The book also contains twenty-five of Gawain’s games, annotated by him and representing different stages in his development.
This is an unusual type of book. In some respects, it bears comparison with the books on Nigel Short’s and Michael Adams’s early careers, also written by parents, but it contains vastly more information than either. In this respect, it bears comparison with Heisman’s A Parent’s Guide to Chess, written from an American perspective.
The material is divided into ten chapters. The chapter headings are largely self-explanatory, but I did not find it obvious where to find information on such topics as chess notation, time controls or grading systems, so the addition of an index would have been helpful.
Verdict: usefully fills an information gap for parents of young players and should go a long way to helping new chess parents adapt quickly, avoid mistakes, and support their children.
(Phil Adams, CCCS Chess)