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"I noticed the atmosphere of children’s competitions reflected in the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. Kids play tournament games while their parents worry in the next room. I do not understand this. What is the significance of results at this age? Children need to learn to play better and then success will be sure to come. For now, just let them have fun playing the game. But it turns out that parents have a different approach.
I once worked with a cute 10-year-old kid in New York and stayed at his home for a few days. The family was very cultured, and they were nice people. The father proudly told me that his son was one of the strongest among his peers in the country, but there was one boy in California who was rated a little higher. So now the main objective was to get ahead of that boy in terms of rating. I was asking him with surprise: “Well, why would rating matter for a 10-year-old? He needs to study and develop,the rating is vanity!”
This boy’s entire room was lined with trophies. I did not receive nearly as many trophies as the 10-year-old American in my entire life! Then, I realized that, in the United States, the organizers try to award some sort of trophy to almost every competitor. Children must like it. It is an American tradition. I am used to something different: no over-praising in vain, rewards for real progress and not just participation. I cannot judge which approach is better, and it barely makes sense to pose the question in this way; each country has its own cultural traditions."
I once worked with a cute 10-year-old kid in New York and stayed at his home for a few days. The family was very cultured, and they were nice people. The father proudly told me that his son was one of the strongest among his peers in the country, but there was one boy in California who was rated a little higher. So now the main objective was to get ahead of that boy in terms of rating. I was asking him with surprise: “Well, why would rating matter for a 10-year-old? He needs to study and develop,the rating is vanity!”
This boy’s entire room was lined with trophies. I did not receive nearly as many trophies as the 10-year-old American in my entire life! Then, I realized that, in the United States, the organizers try to award some sort of trophy to almost every competitor. Children must like it. It is an American tradition. I am used to something different: no over-praising in vain, rewards for real progress and not just participation. I cannot judge which approach is better, and it barely makes sense to pose the question in this way; each country has its own cultural traditions."
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