U.S. Chess Mates - Article # 1
Benefits of chess for children
By Dean J. Ippolito
Chess has long been considered a way for children to increase their
mental prowess, concentration, memory, and analytical skills. To anyone
who has known the game, it comes as no surprise that these assumptions
were actually proven in several studies on how chess can improve the
grades of students.
Although chess has been shown to increase the mental abilities of persons
of all ages, the main studies have been done with children. This is first for
the obvious reason that students are constantly tested anyway, and
therefore the data need only be analyzed, and secondly because
children's mental development is more rapid and can be more easily
measured than persons at a later life stage.
Early Conclusions:
After several informal studies were done in the early 20th century on the
effect that chess has on logical thinking and other such functions, a
primary conclusion was drawn that chess does in fact not only demand
such characteristics, but develops and promotes them as well. John Artise
in Chess and Education wrote "Visual stimuli tend to improve memory more
than any other stimuli; chess is definitely an excellent memory exerciser the
effects of which are transferable to other subjects where memory is
necessary."
Improved memory is just the tip of the iceberg. Reports from students,
teachers, and parents noticed the academic benefits of chess on math
problem solving skills and reading comprehension, an increase in self-
confidence, patience, logic, critical thinking, observation, pattern
recognition, analysis, creativity, concentration, persistence, self-control,
sportsmanship, responsibility, respect for others, self esteem, coping with
frustration, and many other influences which are difficult to measure but
can make a difference in student attitude, motivation, and achievement.
With this in mind, legislation in the U.S. in 1992 promoting and encouraging
the incorporation of chess into the curriculum of schools was passed. The
U.S. joined the more than 30 countries which already had chess included in
some form in their school curricula. Today it is estimated that number has
more than doubled.
In part due to the educational community, which has noted the increased
academic performance of students participating in chess, there has been
an explosion in the number of children playing chess in the U.S. This
popularity can be seen in the record number of players competing in
National Scholastic Events. Scholastic chess players are increasing in
numbers more rapidly than adult chess players; scholastic chess
membership within the United States Chess Federation now represents
more than 50% of the total members. An estimated 250,000 children in the
U.S. are introduced every year through the school system to the basics of
the game. As the number of children playing chess grows, it has become
necessary for actual tests to be performed to determine the benefits of
chess. Luckily, these studies have already been done to confirm the
hypothesis that chess is linked to increased grades in school; far too many
to be listed here. I will touh on some of the more outstanding, thorough
studies, all of which have similar findings.
Case Studies:
As reported in Developing Critical Thinking Through Chess, Dr. Robert
Ferguson tested students from seventh to ninth grades from the years
1979-1983 as part of the ESEA Title IV-C Explore Program. He found that
non-chess students increased their critical thinking skills an average of
4.6% annually, while students who were members of a chess club improved
their analytical skills an average of 17.3% annually. Three separate tests
to determine how chess affects creative thinking were also done as part of
the same study. It concluded that on average, different aspects of creative
thinking had improved at a rate two to three times faster for chess playing
students, as opposed to their non-chess playing counterparts.
Subsequent studies by Dr. Ferguson further supported these original
conclusions. In the Tri-State Area School Pilot Study conducted in 1986
and Development of Reasoning and Memory Through Chess (1987-88)
chess playing students showed more rapid increased gains in memory,
organizational skills, and logic.
In Zaire the study Chess and Aptitudes, was conducted by Dr. Albert Frank
at the Uni Protestant School, during the 1973 - 74 school year. Using
sufficiently large experimental and control groups, Dr. Frank wanted to
confirm if the ability to learn chess is a function of special aptitude,
perceptive speed, reasoning, creativity, or general intelligence. He
hypothesized that in order to learn chess well one must have a high level of
one or several of these abilities. He also wanted to see to what extent
learning chess could influence the development of these abilities. His
results were astonishing, yet predictable. There was a significant
correlation between the ability to play chess well, and spatial, numerical,
administrative-directional, and paperwork abilities. It showed that the ability
in chess is not due to the presence of only one or two abilities but that a
large number of talents all work together in chess. The conclusion was that
students participating in the chess course show a marked development of
their verbal and numerical aptitudes. Furthermore, this was noticed in the
majority of chess students and not only those who were better players.
A study conducted in four large elementary schools in Texas in 1997
further demonstrated the positivism of chess. Through the Texas
Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the study was done to test the
difference that chess club had on standardized tests. These schools were
selected since all had a chess program in existence for a minimum of two
years. The chess clubs met for one hour after school one day per week.
Since a few thousand total students took the test and all types of students
were tested from special education students to gifted and talented
students, the sample was large and diverse enough to make a concrete
conclusion. There were significant improvements in both reading and math
for all grade levels and all classes of students (regular, gifted and talented,
special education, academically able, etc.). Through the Texas Learning
Index, or TLI, it was determined that on average the students who played
chess improved in reading and mathematics at a rate between 1.5 and two
times faster than non-chess playing students.
In terms of verbal improvement specifically, a study by Dr. Stuart Margulies
from 1991 addressed this. The study conclusively proved that students
who learned chess enjoyed a significant increase in their reading skills.
"Margulies Study is one of the strongest arguments to finally prove what
hundreds of teachers knew all along-chess is a learning tool. (Inside
Chess, February 1994).
"Can chess promote earlier intellectual maturation" was the question posed
in the Chess and Cognitive Development study directed by Johan
Christiaen from the 1974-76 school years in Belgium. The results again
clearly confirmed that the group of chess playing students showed
significantly more improvement then the non chess playing students. In
1982, Dr. Gerard Dullea mentioned this study and proclaimed "…we have
scientific support for what we have known all along-chess makes kids
smarter! (Chess Life, November 1982) In a similar study done in a test
series in New Brunswick, Canada called Challenging Mathematics, the
mathematics curriculum used chess to teach logic from grades 2 to 7. The
average problem solving score in the province increased from 62% to 81%.
In Playing Chess: A Study of Problem-Solving Skills in Students with
Average and Above Average Intelligence by Philip Rifner from the 1991-92
school term, the hypothesis that learning general problem solving skills in
chess could then be applied to other domains was affirmed.
Conclusions:
We can now say with full confidence that chess has been PROVEN to
enhance creativity, problem solving, memory, concentration, intellectual
maturity, self esteem, and many other abilities that a parent or teacher
would desire. This proves what all of us involved in chess have been
saying for years…chess makes you smart!
By Dean J. Ippolito
Chess has long been considered a way for children to increase their
mental prowess, concentration, memory, and analytical skills. To anyone
who has known the game, it comes as no surprise that these assumptions
were actually proven in several studies on how chess can improve the
grades of students.
Although chess has been shown to increase the mental abilities of persons
of all ages, the main studies have been done with children. This is first for
the obvious reason that students are constantly tested anyway, and
therefore the data need only be analyzed, and secondly because
children's mental development is more rapid and can be more easily
measured than persons at a later life stage.
Early Conclusions:
After several informal studies were done in the early 20th century on the
effect that chess has on logical thinking and other such functions, a
primary conclusion was drawn that chess does in fact not only demand
such characteristics, but develops and promotes them as well. John Artise
in Chess and Education wrote "Visual stimuli tend to improve memory more
than any other stimuli; chess is definitely an excellent memory exerciser the
effects of which are transferable to other subjects where memory is
necessary."
Improved memory is just the tip of the iceberg. Reports from students,
teachers, and parents noticed the academic benefits of chess on math
problem solving skills and reading comprehension, an increase in self-
confidence, patience, logic, critical thinking, observation, pattern
recognition, analysis, creativity, concentration, persistence, self-control,
sportsmanship, responsibility, respect for others, self esteem, coping with
frustration, and many other influences which are difficult to measure but
can make a difference in student attitude, motivation, and achievement.
With this in mind, legislation in the U.S. in 1992 promoting and encouraging
the incorporation of chess into the curriculum of schools was passed. The
U.S. joined the more than 30 countries which already had chess included in
some form in their school curricula. Today it is estimated that number has
more than doubled.
In part due to the educational community, which has noted the increased
academic performance of students participating in chess, there has been
an explosion in the number of children playing chess in the U.S. This
popularity can be seen in the record number of players competing in
National Scholastic Events. Scholastic chess players are increasing in
numbers more rapidly than adult chess players; scholastic chess
membership within the United States Chess Federation now represents
more than 50% of the total members. An estimated 250,000 children in the
U.S. are introduced every year through the school system to the basics of
the game. As the number of children playing chess grows, it has become
necessary for actual tests to be performed to determine the benefits of
chess. Luckily, these studies have already been done to confirm the
hypothesis that chess is linked to increased grades in school; far too many
to be listed here. I will touh on some of the more outstanding, thorough
studies, all of which have similar findings.
Case Studies:
As reported in Developing Critical Thinking Through Chess, Dr. Robert
Ferguson tested students from seventh to ninth grades from the years
1979-1983 as part of the ESEA Title IV-C Explore Program. He found that
non-chess students increased their critical thinking skills an average of
4.6% annually, while students who were members of a chess club improved
their analytical skills an average of 17.3% annually. Three separate tests
to determine how chess affects creative thinking were also done as part of
the same study. It concluded that on average, different aspects of creative
thinking had improved at a rate two to three times faster for chess playing
students, as opposed to their non-chess playing counterparts.
Subsequent studies by Dr. Ferguson further supported these original
conclusions. In the Tri-State Area School Pilot Study conducted in 1986
and Development of Reasoning and Memory Through Chess (1987-88)
chess playing students showed more rapid increased gains in memory,
organizational skills, and logic.
In Zaire the study Chess and Aptitudes, was conducted by Dr. Albert Frank
at the Uni Protestant School, during the 1973 - 74 school year. Using
sufficiently large experimental and control groups, Dr. Frank wanted to
confirm if the ability to learn chess is a function of special aptitude,
perceptive speed, reasoning, creativity, or general intelligence. He
hypothesized that in order to learn chess well one must have a high level of
one or several of these abilities. He also wanted to see to what extent
learning chess could influence the development of these abilities. His
results were astonishing, yet predictable. There was a significant
correlation between the ability to play chess well, and spatial, numerical,
administrative-directional, and paperwork abilities. It showed that the ability
in chess is not due to the presence of only one or two abilities but that a
large number of talents all work together in chess. The conclusion was that
students participating in the chess course show a marked development of
their verbal and numerical aptitudes. Furthermore, this was noticed in the
majority of chess students and not only those who were better players.
A study conducted in four large elementary schools in Texas in 1997
further demonstrated the positivism of chess. Through the Texas
Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the study was done to test the
difference that chess club had on standardized tests. These schools were
selected since all had a chess program in existence for a minimum of two
years. The chess clubs met for one hour after school one day per week.
Since a few thousand total students took the test and all types of students
were tested from special education students to gifted and talented
students, the sample was large and diverse enough to make a concrete
conclusion. There were significant improvements in both reading and math
for all grade levels and all classes of students (regular, gifted and talented,
special education, academically able, etc.). Through the Texas Learning
Index, or TLI, it was determined that on average the students who played
chess improved in reading and mathematics at a rate between 1.5 and two
times faster than non-chess playing students.
In terms of verbal improvement specifically, a study by Dr. Stuart Margulies
from 1991 addressed this. The study conclusively proved that students
who learned chess enjoyed a significant increase in their reading skills.
"Margulies Study is one of the strongest arguments to finally prove what
hundreds of teachers knew all along-chess is a learning tool. (Inside
Chess, February 1994).
"Can chess promote earlier intellectual maturation" was the question posed
in the Chess and Cognitive Development study directed by Johan
Christiaen from the 1974-76 school years in Belgium. The results again
clearly confirmed that the group of chess playing students showed
significantly more improvement then the non chess playing students. In
1982, Dr. Gerard Dullea mentioned this study and proclaimed "…we have
scientific support for what we have known all along-chess makes kids
smarter! (Chess Life, November 1982) In a similar study done in a test
series in New Brunswick, Canada called Challenging Mathematics, the
mathematics curriculum used chess to teach logic from grades 2 to 7. The
average problem solving score in the province increased from 62% to 81%.
In Playing Chess: A Study of Problem-Solving Skills in Students with
Average and Above Average Intelligence by Philip Rifner from the 1991-92
school term, the hypothesis that learning general problem solving skills in
chess could then be applied to other domains was affirmed.
Conclusions:
We can now say with full confidence that chess has been PROVEN to
enhance creativity, problem solving, memory, concentration, intellectual
maturity, self esteem, and many other abilities that a parent or teacher
would desire. This proves what all of us involved in chess have been
saying for years…chess makes you smart!
U.S. Chess Mates
Professional Chess Instruction for Children of all Ages.
| "Bringing Chess Instruction to as many Children as Possible" |
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