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There are a variety of ways to level the playing field in chess. The two most common methods are material advantage and time odds, although there are also a number of more exotic handicaps that one can conceive of (e.g. giving away free moves, requiring a given piece to give checkmate, allowing the King to move two squares, etc). With material handicaps, ...

I played with my 5y old daughter using the Ticket to Ride: Europe base game and the following house rules. (We played twice; each game taking 20-30min.) The first player to complete 4 tickets wins! (We don't use the score track) Game setup Deal four train cards to each player Everybody play cards face up Remove all destination cards higher than 8 points ...

I was going to say CandyLand and Chutes and Ladders, because as annoying as they are they are still a huge hit with my 4 year old. I am hoping that she will soon be old enough for Catan Junior! She already wants to play Catan with Mama.

Found it! It's name is "Ghost Hunters!" by Brian Lee and it's not a board game but a book, published for the first time in UK by Tango Books in 1998. ISBN (for Italian edition) is 88-450-7851-5, and you can see it online at http://www.lafeltrinelli.it/products/9788845107351/Gioca_con_gli_acchiappafantasmi/Lee_Brian.html

My recommendation is to: Introduce recording of the games. This would allow her to study her own games offline, and come back with questions. The habit of recording one's own games is a gift beyond price, and the sooner introduced the stronger the habit will be. Ask this young girl her own opinion on these questions. A sense of control I believe is vital, ...

I contacted the publisher and got the official rule: "In concept, a small fish moving into a square occupied by a predatory fish means the small fish gets eaten." So, the small fishes can indeed rush head on into the mouth of a predator. Seems like my daughter can continue feeding my beautiful little fishes to sharks, and there's nothing I can do about it.

N.B. The links to terms are for third parties, rather than the questioner, who as 7 kyu will already know them. Where she is now The best approach depends on the sort of person she is and what she hopes to get from playing go, so stay alert to any feelings, wishes and opinions she expresses. As Forget I was ever here’s answer says, I think you should find ...

I once saw a good suggestion elsewhere on the web: in a one-on-one game, allow the kid to swap places with you at any point in the match. The original example was chess, but it would work with many duels. Dominion and Star Realms would be as easy as swapping decks. Helps to keep a bored child's interest if he gets to pilot a winning strategy for a while. It ...

My experience with Legends of Andor is that it is primarily a "puzzle". Time is very limited, and you need to be very strategic about what actions you take in order to succeed. I don't think most 5 year olds will have this level of analytic thinking yet. So while your daughter can probably learn the available decisions and be able to choose ones she ...

A "third" handicap other than material or time is a "propositional" game. An example is that you lose (or cannot win) if you have lost all your pawns before administering checkmate, no matter what else happens. That proposition would lead you to play out your pawns more conservatively at the beginning of the game, and perhaps not use pawn storms. Other ...

Try something new. A new opening, or relying overmuch on an unusual piece. This works best when the junior opponent knows how to play and is getting the hang of your usual opening, but you are still better. Try something wild and new, it might be a disaster, it might actually work, either way you might both learn something. PS - Especially fun in ...

There are a few handicap ideas I use: Material Advantage Time Advantage Swapping colors midway through the game Material Advantage: Depends on the difference in skill of the two players. For beginners playing against moderately good players, you can take off whole pieces such as Queens, or Knights (since Knights are notoriously good against beginners due ...

The best training for playing chess is the game itself. But if you want to "dumb down" the game, then remove the two sets of knights. Those are the pieces with "special" moves that are relatively hard to understand. The other pieces all move on straight lines and/or diagonals. There's really no need to play with simplified rules. There are only five ...

At that age they will have a bit of trouble just figuring out how pieces move. It will take a few games for them to remember it. In games with kids that are too young to quickly grasp how pieces move I simply make sure that on nearly every move I have a piece available for them to take (for free), and the problem I pose to them is which piece they can take ...

Unlike GO, handicapping chess with missing pieces completely distorts the game; it is better to handicap on time. Buy a a chess clock, and use it for the game. Give yourself 5 minutes for a game, and give your son 60-75 minutes or more. This will give him a chance to actually win (because you are under such time pressure). From the start let him know that ...

To help my 6-year-old daughter play Uno with the family, my 10-year-old son just grabbed a chip clip that you would use to hold a bag of potato chips and flipped it upside down. He showed my daughter how to fan her cards and place them in the clip. With a little practice, she is using it to play Uno with the rest of the family. Prior to this, we had a family ...

It is called 'Horror House' I used to have it 3 dimensional board game with moving party and divided in to four large rooms, something used to roll down the stairs as I recall ad knock you over if you happened to be on that section.