Lotus levelSound familiar?
That child who calculates well and has no patience for the quiet parts of chess. Where a pawn stands, which squares a knight needs, whether a swap helps: as long as nothing is lost, none of it seems to matter. Counting is real chess; the rest looks like fuss.
That is Simen's clumsiness, and he finds it fun. Beating him shows your child that the fuss is where games are decided later: weak pawns he made himself, a piece parked on the edge, a strong piece swapped for a weak one.
Simen's signature moves
Three things to watch for in a game against Simen.
In every example, Simen plays the black pieces.
He wrecks his own pawns
He finds it fun to ruin his pawns, and often picks moves that leave them weak.
Safe, but on a bad square
Chase one of his pieces and it gets away, but often to a worse square, like the edge, where it can do little.
A fair swap that helps you
He swaps pieces of equal value, but the wrong ones: his strong knight for your weak bishop, the one stuck behind its own pawns. On paper it is even. On the board, your position gets better.