Something unexpected came out of my son’s chess learning recently that I wanted to write about here.
Not the game itself, but a change in how he was approaching it. It seemed to be affecting his progress and, more subtly, other areas of his learning too
It made me reflect on a few things I'd previously taken for granted about learning, and it also linked with some wider patterns I'd already been noticing.
What Chess Taught Us About Learning
My son has played chess since he was about 5 or 6 (he’s now 10). He plays in a variety of ways, over the board and online, and it's a big part of his week. It’s a lot, but he loves it and it’s been great to watch his progress and the skills that have come from it.
But over the last year, we noticed that despite spending more time than ever on chess, his official chess rating hadn't moved. (Not a huge problem in itself, it's about far more than just the rating, but for anyone who loves chess and plays competitively, the rating is an important part of it). He was putting in a lot of effort to improve, but not getting the results he wanted. It was frustrating for him and a bit confusing for us. Sometimes plateaus and natural pauses and ends are a natural part of learning, but this didn't feel like that.
We looked at it together and realised that how he was spending his time learning chess had changed quite significantly. Whereas before, it had mostly been over-the-board games at clubs and tournaments, now a larger amount of his time practising chess was spent doing online speed games and puzzles.
Watching him play, we noticed that if a puzzle felt particularly difficult, or he got it wrong, he could just move on. There was always another puzzle waiting - no need to correct or analyse his moves, no incentive on the platform to stick with it.
But for chess, that correction and analysis is actually really important.
His club tutor told us he'd seen this pattern before and that playing lots of online games and puzzles doesn't automatically mean stronger chess skills. It's not the volume of games and puzzles that's important, but the deliberate practice of slowing down, working through mistakes and understanding each position.
There's nothing wrong with these games or puzzles, but it seemed as though when this faster-paced approach formed the bulk of his learning, another habit of moving on quickly when something became difficult was being formed alongside the chess.
And that habit wasn't limited to his chess.
When Practice Becomes a Habit
The reason this stood out was because he's always been naturally persistent. Ever since he was little he'd stick with things for ages whether it was puzzles, books, projects or even just watching insects.
But we were starting to see the knock-on effect of this change in his attention in other areas with increased rushing to get things done, more impatience, less time stopping to think. All very subtle but noticeable to us. Maybe it wasn't a direct cause - developmental changes can affect behaviour too - but, knowing him, it did seem like a reasonable explanation.
We worked together to make some changes, moving back towards the older structure of analysing games, being more intentional with puzzles rather than racing through them, as well as working one-to-one with a tutor again.
And, perhaps not surprisingly, a few months in and, reassuringly, the difference is already noticeable.
Are Modern Learning Environments Changing Attention?
Of course there are many factors that shape children's attention. I can't know that this was the only one, but seeing it does make me wonder whether the environments children practise in are shaping not only what they learn, but how they learn too.
Life is very fast-paced now, and I notice that a lot of spaces created for children - online and offline - are designed to hold attention, but also to keep things moving, from learning apps and games through to fast-paced classroom lessons and tightly scheduled and structured activities.
This can be absolutely fine, young children have shorter attention spans and for some, that faster feedback and variety is essential for engagement in the first place. But if it becomes the main learning experience, could it also change how comfortable children are with slower, more sustained attention as they grow?
Both have value, but perhaps they train slightly different habits of thinking and approaching problems.
Video Games and Attention
Take video games as an example.
They can be a brilliant tool for creativity and problem solving. But not all video games are created equally, and I think the differences matter.
When I was younger, my Dad and I would rent a game from Blockbuster and enjoy the challenge of working together to complete it. It was frustrating at times but really fun, and it was a real accomplishment to reach the end. Giving up or moving on isn't an option when you don't have unlimited choice.
There are plenty of games that require sustained attention - Zelda's a good example. You explore, you get stuck, you try again or maybe come back later after thinking about how to solve some of the puzzles. They can be really challenging but the accomplishment after the effort feels good.
There are other games, however, which feel very different. The ones built around speed, fast feedback and quick rewards, often on platforms with endless choice if things get too tricky. The ones where the achievement feels much shallower and short-lived.
Those environments make it very easy to leave something as soon as it feels difficult. Perhaps that's not always a bad thing, there may be some benefits to these types of games when used now and again (can't think of any off the top of my head though 😄 - relieving boredom?), but I wonder if, over time, they encourage a habit of moving on quickly rather than persisting.
AI and the Disappearing Space Between Question and Answer
AI brings this into even sharper focus.
'ChatGPT' is becoming a verb now in the same way 'Google' did years ago.
I use AI cautiously, it's useful and convenient at times, but I'm very careful about how my children use it. It can seem to offer immediate answers with hardly any effort required. But the fact that answers to anything can be available in seconds makes me wonder whether that might actually be creating unwanted habits too.
Knowledge isn’t just collecting facts, it also requires holding information in your mind, linking it to other areas and seeing how it all fits together. This is quite a slow process, taking time and repetition, and doesn’t come from instant answers.
It's easy to find information but much less easy to understand it and connect it with what you already know.
And in a world of constant information, our children will need more than access to just facts. They’ll need enough knowledge to make good judgments and think critically about what they come across.
To know whether something feels right, you need something to compare it against - a bit of knowledge, experience or a sense of how things work. How can you decide if a piece of writing is good or an argument is well reasoned if you don't have an internal reference point for what 'good' is?
The same is true in maths. There's no point using a calculator if you don't have a rough idea of the answer you're expecting.
So when answers come too easily, we may be skipping the very process that turns information into understanding.
Why Deliberate Practice Matters
This is why I think the chess experience was important and an eye-opener. Learning certain skills is not always a smooth process, it usually involves some level of challenge, frustration and persistence.
So my question is: what happens if more and more of children’s learning takes place in environments that are fast, convenient and designed to keep them moving? Where less time is spent on making mistakes and sitting with the uncertainty and frustration that often comes just before something clicks in their mind?
I used to think if children were interested enough in something, they'd naturally learn - and I still believe that to a degree. But not quite in the same way.
My son's chess experience made me look a bit more closely and see that it's about more than just enthusiasm. It's also how and where the attention is being placed.
You've probably heard the idea that 10,000 hours of practice equates to mastery. Maybe that's true, but I'm more aware now that how they practise matters as much as how much they practise.
Are they spending time working just beyond their ability, slowing down to analyse mistakes and learning from them? Or is it mostly repeating familiar patterns without much reflection, moving quickly from one thing to the next?
Those are two very different kinds of practice that probably lead to two very different outcomes over time. Both have value in their own way - repetition can really help to consolidate learning and sometimes we just want to do things for fun, not thinking about progress.
But if it's the only thing going on when we're hoping to learn or improve, where does the growth happen?
Choosing Slower Spaces
For now, I'm thinking more carefully about where our attention is placed as a family. I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with AI, video games or fast-paced learning, or that convenience is something to avoid - all of these are part of our lives. But seeing how quickly habits change when speed and ease become the norm is slightly concerning.
I saw this in myself the other day when I ran out of an ingredient I needed for dinner and, without even thinking, I picked up my phone and asked AI for an alternative. But afterwards I realised I would have come up with the same answer - or a better one - if I spent a minute just thinking about it.
The saddest part for me was that my son was standing next to me watching me do that. If that's the way he sees problems being solved, what happens to all the things that come from trying first? The wrong turns, the little discoveries, the ideas that only appear because something didn't work the first time.
I think about that important space between a question and its answer, a problem and its solution, the beginning of a project and the finished result.
It's not always a comfortable space to be in, it can be frustrating, uncertain, and there's likely to be mistakes and boredom. But it's where we can also grow patience, resilience, persistence and a better understanding of what we're learning.
It's that 'space' that I want to protect for my kids as I'm not sure the online learning allows it in the same way.
I've always tried to keep our life a bit slower where I can and home education helps a lot with that - extended projects, outdoor time, lots of slow-paced books and movies, as well as play, creativity and boredom.
But despite this, it's very easy for little changes to start creeping in. With just a few more games, a bit more technology, more convenience and busier weeks, tiny but noticeable changes in attention, patience, persistence and mood seem to take place.
But, encouragingly, it seems to work both ways. As easy as it is to unwittingly move towards more speed and more convenience, I've also seen how quickly we notice the benefits once things slow down again.
As things get more fast-paced, I think that the ability to hold attention on something for a bit longer or stay with a tough problem might become one of the most valuable skills we can help our children to develop.
It’s certainly something I’m trying to focus on more deliberately now, both for my children and for myself.