Parents need to know that at the core of this story is a valuable lesson about sportsmanship. Children in the 6-8 age bracket will enjoy seeing someone their own age intelligently portrayed, even if they don't quite grasp his particular gift or the situations it places him in. For older kids, this is one of the greatest movies around for demonstrating -- without preaching -- the value of decency and the payoff that comes from serious study.
Positive messages:The boy's teacher tells him that to win he must learn to have contempt for his opponents.
Good Rental Movie will keep the parents engaged too.
This movie got my son to want to play chess! Which we are doing daily right now. But the theme -that is for the adults/parents - went over his head as it was suppose to. I liked that the 7 year old was portrayed as a true 7 yo.