Father's Day gifts for a dad who loves chess

If your dad loves chess, the best Father's Day gift is one that fits how he plays: a good board or a clock if he's missing one, lessons with a master if he wants to improve, and months of membership to a course platform if he already has everything. What he'll appreciate most isn't the most expensive thing, but the thing he'll actually use.

Below are ideas based on how he plays, the date of Father's Day in each country and how to make sure the gift reaches him on the day, even if you live far apart.

First, how does your dad play?

Before choosing, it's worth placing him in one of these three groups:

• He plays with friends, with the grandchildren or on his phone. He enjoys the game but doesn't study it. For him, the gift should make it more fun.
• He plays at a club or in tournaments. He wants to get better, and whatever you give him should help with that.
• He already has a board, a clock and a shelf of chess books. He's the dad who "has everything", and the gift has to be something he doesn't have yet: almost never another object.

If you don't know which group he's in, casually ask who he plays against and whether he's ever played a tournament. Those two answers are enough.

If he plays with friends or on his phone

A handsome set he can actually use. Plenty of dads who play on their phone don't have a decent set at home. A wooden one with Staunton-style pieces —the ones used in tournaments— and a board that suits the pieces is good for games with the grandchildren and looks good on display. Avoid decorative sets with glass or metal pieces that are hard to tell apart.

A course for all levels. If he likes watching games, a course that tells the stories of great players will hook him more than a technical one. Tactical masters: from Morphy to Shirov goes through the brilliant ideas of six great attacking players in history, and it's watched the way you'd watch a good documentary. The courses are taught in Spanish, with English subtitles.

Lessons with a coach. Even if he only plays for fun, a few lessons change the way he sees his games. Many players discover with a coach that they've been repeating the same mistakes for years.

If he plays at a club or in tournaments

A digital clock. If he doesn't have one, it's the safest gift: make sure it supports increments, which is how almost every tournament is played today.

Private lessons with a master. Nothing will make more difference: someone to go over his games, show him the mistakes he keeps making and help him prepare his openings. A pack of several lessons is better than a single one, because the work shows from one week to the next. Is a chess coach worth it explains how to get the most out of them.

A course on the opening he plays. If he always plays 1.e4 e5 and complains about the Ruy Lopez, for instance, Ruy López in Depth sorts out the variations and the middlegame plans for him. Before choosing, find out what he plays: a course on an opening he doesn't use is the only real mistake in this group.

A tournament entry. If he hasn't played one in a while, paying his entry fee —and going with him— could be the gift he remembers most. If it's his first, how to prepare for your first chess tournament will come in handy.

If he already has everything

This is the hardest dad to buy for, and the answer is to give him something he'll use, not something he'll put away.

Months of membership to a course platform. Three or six months give him the whole catalogue to study whatever he likes, without you having to guess the topic. Some plans also include live group classes, which give him a regular date with chess every week.

A course on his favourite player. If he admires attacking chess, Mikhail Tal's Legacy explores Tal's ideas for sacrificing and stirring up complications without losing control.

A classic with a story. Kasparov's My Great Predecessors series, which goes through the world champions game by game, or Mikhail Tal's autobiography: books that are a pleasure to read even for someone who has read a lot of chess.

A shared experience. Going together to watch a strong tournament, both signing up for a simul, or playing one game a week, with the promise written on the card. Sometimes the best gift is time.

What to avoid

• A decorative set if he plays seriously. Glass, metal or oddly shaped pieces look lovely on a shelf and are useless for playing.
• An old opening book. Lines change, and one from twenty years ago may recommend variations that are now considered bad. For openings, an up-to-date course is better.
• An app without asking. If he plays on his phone, he already has his own and likes it.
• Something meant for another level. An endgame treatise for someone who plays with the grandchildren stays on the shelf; a plastic set for someone who plays tournaments does too.

When in doubt, the safest choice is the broadest: a pack of lessons or months of membership, which leave the choice of topic to him.

When is Father's Day in each country?

It isn't the same day everywhere, which is the first thing to check if your dad lives abroad:

• The UK, Ireland, the United States and Canada: the third Sunday in June, as in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru.
• Spain, Portugal and Italy: 19 March, Saint Joseph's Day.
• Australia and New Zealand: the first Sunday in September.
• Uruguay: in July. It's usually the second Sunday, but the date is announced each year by the national chamber of commerce, so it's worth checking.
• Brazil: the second Sunday in August.

If you're in one country and your dad is in another, his date is the one that counts: schedule the gift for his day, not yours.

A gift that arrives on the day

If he lives far away or you've left it late, an online gift solves both problems: no delivery, nothing to run out of and no dependence on the post. You can give a course, lessons with a master or months of membership and choose the day: it arrives by email that morning, with your message. If you'd rather give it to him in person over lunch, you get the code to print on a card.

Three things worth knowing:

• He doesn't need an account beforehand. It's created when he opens the gift, with Google or his email.
• There's no rush to open it. He has a year, and what it includes only starts counting once he opens it.
• He books the lessons himself. You choose the coach, the length and how many lessons; your dad picks the times, whenever suits him.

If he's just starting to play

Some dads have always wanted to learn and never got round to it, and Father's Day is a good excuse. It isn't too late: chess can be learnt at any age, and adults have an advantage children don't, which is the patience to understand why each move is played. Am I too old to learn chess explains why.

For him, what pays off most is a pack of lessons with a coach who teaches from scratch, and a good set to practise on between lessons.

Ideas for the card

The message is half the gift. A few that work for a chess player:

• "To the king of the house."
• "Your move, Dad."
• "So you can keep beating me... or so I finally beat you."
• "You'll always be my favourite opponent."

And if he has a chess memory with you —the first game you beat him, the board at your grandparents' house—, mentioning it is worth more than any ready-made line.