U.S. Chess Mates - Article # 5
U.S. Chess Mates
Professional Chess Instruction for Children of all Ages.
Chess Education
Written and copyright 2005 by David Cohen.
Chess:
• What is chess?
• Where did chess come from?
• Why play chess?
What is chess?:
Chess is a board game played by two people.
Where did chess come from?:
When Alexander of Macedonia invaded India with his army from Greece,
over 2,300 years ago, he tried to combine the two cultures. Chess resulted
from the combination of the logic games of Greece and the race games of
India. Think of the logic of how the pieces move, and the racing of pawns to
the opposite sides of the board.
The board represents a battlefield. The pieces represent the Indian army’s
leader (king); advisor to the leader (queen); and four components: infantry
(pawn), cavalry (knight), chariotry (rook) and elephantry (bishop).
Chess spread to the East to China and Japan, as well as across the Arabic
world and into Europe. From there, chess came to Canada around the 17th
century, brought from England and France by explorers and the military.
Why play chess?:
In a learning environment, chess can help you improve your math, logic,
sports, and life skills.
Skills Developed by Chess:
• Math skills
• Reading skills
• Logic skills
• Sports skills
• Life skills
Math Skills:
Children develop math skills with chess because of a common requirement
of chess and math: visualization. This usually occurs in Grade 2 (at age 7).
Chess develops visualization abilities as follows:
• Chess board - The chess board is laid out in a checkered pattern of
a large square comprised of 64 smaller squares arranged 8 x 8.
Children can be taught their way around the board through its various
patterns (ranks, files, diagonals, colouring of squares).
• Moves of the chess pieces - The child first learns the movements of
the chess pieces which travel in straight lines: pawn, rook, bishop,
and queen. But then the child is introduced to a movement that is
quite different from the others: the L-shaped jump of the knight. The
movement is not only different from the child’s previous chess
experience, but is also likely an entirely new experience for the child.
The child must learn to visualize the movement.
• Moving chess pieces around on the chess board - Moving a chess
piece from a starting square to an ending square forces the child to
visualize the patterns and movements.
Reading skills:
Reading comprehension is improved because sorting out what is important
in a chess position is the same as sorting out the contents of a multi-media
web page.
Logic Skills:
Critical thinking skills can be developed from chess in the field of logic, with
applications to reading, writing, research, and learning:
• Analysis - list, assess strengths and weaknesses (use observation,
reference to standards); develop possible actions (use imagination)
• Evaluation - assess the value of an action
• Judgement - compare alternative actions and determine which is best
• Planning - form a plan for an action; break it down into achievable
steps
The development of these skills is due to the forced alternation of moves
by the two players of the game. To have any success in a chess game, a
child must learn to reason as follows:
"If I do this (move 1), then my opponent will do that (move 2)"; and
"If I do this (move choice 1), then it will be a better result for me than if I do
that (move choice 2)".
Sports Skills:
Chess can help you with your (team) sports:
• Visualization - arrangement of the players on the field of play
• Thinking ahead - possible moves on the open field of play
• Opponent’s response
• Analysis - assess strengths and weaknesses of teams (yours, your
opponent); develop possible actions
• Evaluation - assess the value of an action
• Judgement - compare alternative actions and determine which is best
• Strategy - form a game plan for the team; break it down into
achievable steps, with a role for each player
• Teamwork - team play for your school; playing double chess
(bughouse) with a partner
• Hiding your emotions during a contest
• Break from physical activity
Life Skills:
In the right teaching environment, chess can be used to develop a wide
range of life skills for the student's personal growth and ability to interact
socially. Here are some examples:
• Competition – gain self-esteem and confidence from winning; take
defeat and learn from losing
• Concentration – success from your own effort
• Cooperation – team play for your school; playing double chess
(bughouse) with a partner
• Fair play - playing by the rules
• Hard work – study plus practice will lead to achieving the goal
• Knowledge sharing – mentoring; play weaker players to help them
• Maturity – consideration for others, social behaviour
• Responsibility - your actions bring consequences
Written and copyright 2005 by David Cohen.
Chess:
• What is chess?
• Where did chess come from?
• Why play chess?
What is chess?:
Chess is a board game played by two people.
Where did chess come from?:
When Alexander of Macedonia invaded India with his army from Greece,
over 2,300 years ago, he tried to combine the two cultures. Chess resulted
from the combination of the logic games of Greece and the race games of
India. Think of the logic of how the pieces move, and the racing of pawns to
the opposite sides of the board.
The board represents a battlefield. The pieces represent the Indian army’s
leader (king); advisor to the leader (queen); and four components: infantry
(pawn), cavalry (knight), chariotry (rook) and elephantry (bishop).
Chess spread to the East to China and Japan, as well as across the Arabic
world and into Europe. From there, chess came to Canada around the 17th
century, brought from England and France by explorers and the military.
Why play chess?:
In a learning environment, chess can help you improve your math, logic,
sports, and life skills.
Skills Developed by Chess:
• Math skills
• Reading skills
• Logic skills
• Sports skills
• Life skills
Math Skills:
Children develop math skills with chess because of a common requirement
of chess and math: visualization. This usually occurs in Grade 2 (at age 7).
Chess develops visualization abilities as follows:
• Chess board - The chess board is laid out in a checkered pattern of
a large square comprised of 64 smaller squares arranged 8 x 8.
Children can be taught their way around the board through its various
patterns (ranks, files, diagonals, colouring of squares).
• Moves of the chess pieces - The child first learns the movements of
the chess pieces which travel in straight lines: pawn, rook, bishop,
and queen. But then the child is introduced to a movement that is
quite different from the others: the L-shaped jump of the knight. The
movement is not only different from the child’s previous chess
experience, but is also likely an entirely new experience for the child.
The child must learn to visualize the movement.
• Moving chess pieces around on the chess board - Moving a chess
piece from a starting square to an ending square forces the child to
visualize the patterns and movements.
Reading skills:
Reading comprehension is improved because sorting out what is important
in a chess position is the same as sorting out the contents of a multi-media
web page.
Logic Skills:
Critical thinking skills can be developed from chess in the field of logic, with
applications to reading, writing, research, and learning:
• Analysis - list, assess strengths and weaknesses (use observation,
reference to standards); develop possible actions (use imagination)
• Evaluation - assess the value of an action
• Judgement - compare alternative actions and determine which is best
• Planning - form a plan for an action; break it down into achievable
steps
The development of these skills is due to the forced alternation of moves
by the two players of the game. To have any success in a chess game, a
child must learn to reason as follows:
"If I do this (move 1), then my opponent will do that (move 2)"; and
"If I do this (move choice 1), then it will be a better result for me than if I do
that (move choice 2)".
Sports Skills:
Chess can help you with your (team) sports:
• Visualization - arrangement of the players on the field of play
• Thinking ahead - possible moves on the open field of play
• Opponent’s response
• Analysis - assess strengths and weaknesses of teams (yours, your
opponent); develop possible actions
• Evaluation - assess the value of an action
• Judgement - compare alternative actions and determine which is best
• Strategy - form a game plan for the team; break it down into
achievable steps, with a role for each player
• Teamwork - team play for your school; playing double chess
(bughouse) with a partner
• Hiding your emotions during a contest
• Break from physical activity
Life Skills:
In the right teaching environment, chess can be used to develop a wide
range of life skills for the student's personal growth and ability to interact
socially. Here are some examples:
• Competition – gain self-esteem and confidence from winning; take
defeat and learn from losing
• Concentration – success from your own effort
• Cooperation – team play for your school; playing double chess
(bughouse) with a partner
• Fair play - playing by the rules
• Hard work – study plus practice will lead to achieving the goal
• Knowledge sharing – mentoring; play weaker players to help them
• Maturity – consideration for others, social behaviour
• Responsibility - your actions bring consequences
| "Bringing Chess Instruction to as many Children as Possible" |
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