What is the earliest age to start palying chess?

Basically the earlier kid starts to play chess the better, since young mind is more flexible and learns things faster. However, I believe that it’s mostly matters not when you start playing chess, but how much time and effort you dedicated to that game. If you start playing at 6 you may become a grandmaster by 16 with right training and talent. If you started at 30 maybe you’ll be able to become a grandmaster by 40. Adults however have a lot less time to play chess since they have work, family, children and lots of problems they have to think about besides chess. That is also why players generally do not obtain the highest chess title if they start playing late.

Here is the list of when famous players have learned to play chess:

Alekhine learned at the age of 7 from his older brother. His mother also played chess and he learned chess from his relatives.

Anand learned the game of chess at age 6, taught by his mother.

Adolf Anderssen learned at the age of 9 from his father.

Blackburne was 19 years old before he learned chess. He learned the game from a chess book he had purchased.

Humphrey Bogart learned chess at 13 and was later a chess hustler.

Boleslavsky learned at age 9 at the House of Pioneers in the USSR.

Botvinnik learned at the age of 12, probably from his family.

de la Bourdonnais learned at 19 while in college.

Walter Browne learned the game at age 8 somewhere in Brooklyn.

Capablanca claimed he learned chess at the age of 4 by watching his father play chess against friends.

Ray Charles learned at age 35 in a hospital to fight drug addiction.

Irving Chernev learned at the age of 12 from his father.

Mikhail Chigorin learned at the age of 16 from a school teacher in Russia.

Arnold Denker learned at the age of 12 from his oldest brother.

Jan Donner learned at the age of 14, taught by his friends.

Max Euwe learned at the age of 9 from his parents.

Larry Evans learned at age 12 from his brothers and his father.

Reuben Fine learned chess at the age of 8 from his cousin.

Bobby Fischer learned at the age of 8 from his older sister.

Nona Gaprindashvili learned at the age of 5 from her 5 older brothers.

Gligoric learned about age 12 from a boarder in his parents home.

Heubner learned at the age of 5 from his father.

Igor Ivanov learned at age 5 from his mother.

John Jarecki learned at the age of 6 from his father (a medical doctor).

Mona Karff learned at age 9 from her father.

Karpov learned chess at the age of 4 at the Pioneers Palace.

Kasparov learned at age 5 from his father, who later died in a car crash.

Paul Keres learned at the age of 4, probably from his parents.

George Koltanoski learned chess at the age of 14 from his father, a diamond cutter.

Bent Larsen learned at age 6, probably from his family.

Edward Lasker learned at age 6 from his father.

Emanuel Lasker learned at age 11 from his older brother.

Bill Lombardy learned at age 9 from a neighbor.

Frank Marshall learned chess at age 10 from his father.

Mecking learned at age 6, probably from his family.

Vera Menchik learned at age 9 from her father.

Paul Morphy learned at age 8 from his father.

Nakamura learned how to play chess at the age of 7.

Nimzovich learned chess at the age of 8.

Victor Palciuskas learned at age 5 from his uncle.

Louis Paulsen learned at age 5 from his father.

Petrosian learned chess from his parent at age 8. His parents died a few years later during World War II.

Philidor learned at age 10 from his musician friends.

Pillsbury learned at age 15.

Susan Polgar learned chess at the age of 4 from her parents.

Stuart Rachels learned at age 8 from an older brother.

Reshevesky was playing chess at 4 and giving simuls at age 5.

Rossolimo learned chess at age 7 from his mother.

Diane Savereide learned chess at age 17 from her brother. A few years later she was the top woman chess player in the U.S.

Gabriel Schwartzman says he learned chess at the age of 2.

Seirawan learned chess in Seattle at the age of 12.

Smyslov learned chess at the age of 6 from his father and from the chess books in his father's library.

Soltis learned chess at age 9.

Spassky learned chess at the age of 5.

Steinitz learned chess at the age of 12 from friends.

Sultan Khan learned modern chess at age 21. Prior to that, he learned Indian chess at a much younger age.

Mikhail Tal learned at the age of 8 by watching patients play chess at the hospital his father worked at.

Tarrasch learned chess at the age of 15 from a chess book.

George Thomas learned chess at the age of 13 from his mother, a top British Ladies' Champion.

Topalov learned at age 9.

Norman Whitaker learned at age 14 from his father.

Michael Wilder learned at the age of 6 from his father.

Go for it. Give them a challenge. No need to force it, just give them the opportunity. I am neither a genius nor a grandmaster and I learned at age 5 from my 7 year old cousin. The game has brought me many hours of enjoyment. I look forward to retiring from my day job next year, partly because it will mean I will have more time to play and study chess.

Good list by amer, but he left off my favorite child prodigy, Magnus Carlson. Entered his first tournament at age 8 and became a GM at age 13; also youngest player ever to be ranked #1 by FIDE Elo rating, age 19.

6 or 7 years old is usually a good age a child who shows interest in chess should be encouraged but never pushed if the interest is not there and they have no desire to learn.

With encouragement and proper instruction you should instill in the child a deep love for chess and the beauty of the game which will stay with her or him for life.

One can learn at any age, but research has found the optimum age on average to be 8 years. Forcing them to learn earlier normally has found to be a waste of time. Child prodigies can pick it up earlier of course.

As young as you understand how to play the chess.

My nephew started at age 6. His cousin still doesn't care to learn it at age 11.

my son was still in diapers & LOVED playing chess !!

OK...it wasn't a real game & he really wasn't playing....but he was quiet for HOURS !!

an average age for a real game?......maybe 10 years old

When an individual is old enough to comprehend the game? wow...