Is it possible to estimate a USCF rating before entering tournaments?
700 appears to be the dividing line between advanced beginner and intermediate. However, I don't really know what that means. Is there a way to gauge what the differences are between an advanced beginner and an intermediate player?
Thanks.
Based on some observations of kids' tournaments, a child can go a long way if he simply captures pieces that are unguarded and avoids leaving his pieces "hanging". Thinking several moves ahead is good, but first he needs to be able to see one move ahead, looking at the possible moves of ALL of his pieces and ALL of his opponent's pieces. Often children play as if only a subset of the pieces (perhaps just the queen) exist.
I define "intermediate" as a player who usually follows the above guidelines. But even in rated youth tournaments there are lots of weak players, so if your child wants to play in one, I would not worry much about his current strength.
Windows Vista comes with Chess Titans. Has your child played this program, and can he win on any level?
