An interesting experiment! Unfortunately since I moved continents I don’t have any of that old gear any more… but the concept is great and I apply it for more things.
My first computer was a Sinclair ZX80, quickly followed by the awesome Acorn BBC/B (Acorn completely missing from oldcomputers.net!)
I learnt programming slightly before, on a DEC PDP-8 (in VT78 with two 8″ floppy drives and a line printer) at a local club.
Yep, five years old and now playing chess. since yesterday (31 Oct 2010, for the record). Why not. I’d put out a chess set on my coffee table, part decoration & part to see what she’d think about it (or for others on the pot luck night to play)… and within several hours Phoebe asked me to teach her. Ok!
We first went over the names of the pieces and their basic moves… of course you can make up a cool story about a castle, so that’s all pretty easy to remember. The moves are not too difficult except for the knight (horse) which can be a bit tricky to get right.
We’ve already played two games since, and she’s doing pretty well. With her story mind, she’s decided she doesn’t like the bishops much and so she’s giving them away early on in the game. I said that’s probably not a good idea as she might need those pieces even if she don’t like them – but heck she can play lots and figure it all out in her own way. Exploring is fun, and using your brain at the same time is fabulous!
(apparently my good friend Georg Richter -chess grand master or somesuch- started at age 4, so there ya go)