I can see you have posted and although I still have you on ignore I may take you off... I probably have been a dick to which you no doubt will agree but I have to decide what is best. Alex
My dad taught us chess when I was seven or eight and my brother was two-and-a-half years older. He used cardboard cut-outs too (remember the cardboard that they used to separate the layers in a box of Muffets cereal?). Later on he bought a wooden set but one of the pawns get lost (it's probably still behind the couch) and he whittled a crude replacement (it was always the first one to be captured). I'm a really bad player but my brother got to be pretty good. He and Dad played every Sunday for thirty-five years until Dad died.
My dad got tired of me beating him when I was 15 or so, and brought in some Jesuit friends to teach me a lesson. These guys spoke 5 languages, discussed theology and history without ranting, and taught me to really play chess. My son beats me most of the time now, and I'm proud of it.
I have played chess as a child, on the top level of my hometown. But disliked it, because of the teacher, and stopped to play it. Later I have learned Go, which is a much better game. Easier to learn for children, much more fair (because even professional players give each other handicaps according to their level, so with a fair handicap even beginners can win against a master player.
My father taught me chess around age 10. I played with my friends in school, and I became a competent player, but never much more than that. One of my college buddies taught me to play go when I was around 20, and I found it more interesting and more fun. One of the things I (and many players) appreciate is the handicap system. A casual player can sit across from a professional, and with the proper handicap both can have about the same chance of winning. It's hard to handicap chess. If you toss one of the pieces away, you're making a considerable change in the game. That doesn't happen in go. I've got nothing against chess, and I still get a game occasionally, but I like go a lot more.
