U.S. Chess Mates
Professional Chess Instruction for Children of all Ages.
The Case for Chess as a Tool to Develop Our Children’s Minds
By Dr Peter Dauvergne
University of Sydney
July, 2000
Is chess an art? A science? Some claim it’s both. Yet let’s be honest, it’s
really just a game. Fun, challenging, creative: but still a game, not much
different from tennis, cricket, football, or golf.
But there is one striking difference to these other popular games. While
learning to play almost any game can help build self-esteem and
confidence, chess is one of the few that fully exercises our minds.
Many of us could probably use this exercise, although it may be a bit late
for some. (At least for those of us old enough to read an article like this
voluntarily!) It’s not, however, too late for our children.
Chess is one of the most powerful educational tools available to
strengthen a child’s mind. It’s fairly easy to learn how to play. Most six or
seven year olds can follow the basic rules. Some kids as young as four
or five can play. Like learning a language or music an early start can
help a child become more proficient. Whatever a child’s age, however,
chess can enhance concentration, patience, and perseverance, as well
as develop creativity, intuition, memory, and most importantly, the ability
to analyse and deduce from a set of general principles, learning to make
tough decisions and solve problems flexibly.
This is undeniably a grand claim. The remainder of this paper outlines
some of the arguments and educational studies to justify and support this.
Concentration, Patience, and Perseverance:
To play chess well requires intense concentration. Some of the world’
s top players can undeniably look distracted, sometimes jumping up
between moves to walk around. A closer look, however, reveals that most
of these players are actually in deep concentration, relying on strong
visual recall to plan and calculate even when they are away from their
game. For young, inexperienced players, chess teaches the rewards of
concentration as well as provides immediate penalties for lapses. Few
teaching tools provide such quick feedback. One slip in concentration
can lead to a simple blunder, perhaps even ending the game. Only a
focused, patient and persistent young chess player will maintain steady
results – characteristics that are equally valuable for performing well at
school, especially in school exams.
Analysis, Logic, and Problem Solving:
Playing chess well involves a combination of aptitudes. A 1973-74 study
in Zaire by Dr Albert Frank (1974) found that good teenage chess players
(16-18 years old) had strong spatial, numerical, administrative-directional,
and paperwork abilities. Dr Robert Ferguson (1995, p. 2) notes that “This
finding tends to show that ability in chess is not due to the presence in an
individual of only one or two abilities but that a large number of aptitudes
all work together in chess.” Even more significantly Frank’s study found
that learning chess, even as teenagers, strengthened both numerical and
verbal aptitudes. This occurred for the majority of students (not just the
strong players) who took a chess course for two hours each week for one
school year. Other studies have added that playing chess can
strengthen a child’s memory (Artise).
A 1990-92 study in New Brunswick, Canada, further shows the value of
chess for developing problem solving skills among young children
(Gaudreau 1992). By integrating chess into the traditional mathematics
curriculum teachers were able to raise significantly the average problem
solving scores of their students. These students also scored far higher
on problem solving tests than ones who just took the standard
mathematics course. Primary school chess has now exploded in New
Brunswick. In 1989, 120 students played in the provincial school chess
championship. Three years later over 19,000 played (Ferguson 1995, p.
11).
Chess has also been shown to foster critical and creative thinking. Dr
Ferguson’s four-year study (1979-83) analysed the impact of chess on
students’ thinking skills in the Bradford Area School District in the United
States (grades 7-9). These students were already identified as gifted,
with intelligence quotient (IQ) scores above 130. Using two tests (Watson-
Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Torrance Tests of Creative
Thinking) Ferguson (1995, pp. 4-6) found that after spending 60 - 64
hours playing and studying chess over 32 weeks students showed
significant progress in critical thinking. He further found that chess
enhances “creativity in gifted adolescents.” He concluded that “it appears
that chess is superior to many currently used programs for developing
creative thinking and, therefore, could logically be included in a
differentiated program for mentally gifted students”.
Playing chess, however, is not only valuable for developing the skills of
gifted children. Average and even below average learners can also
benefit. Chess teacher Michael Wojcio (1990) notes that “even if a slow
learner does not grasp all of [the strategies and tactics in chess], he / she
can still benefit by learning language, concepts, and fine motor
movement.” During a program run by Dr Ferguson from September 1987
to May 1988 all members of a standard sixth grade class in rural
Pennsylvania were required to take chess lessons and play games. This
class had 9 boys and 5 girls. At the start of this study students took IQ
tests, producing a mean IQ of 104.6. Students then studied chess two or
three times per week while playing most days. They were also
encouraged to participate in tournaments. After this intensive chess
instruction a group of seven boys managed to finish second in the 1998
Pennsylvania State Scholastic Championship. Significantly, at the
conclusion of the study tests showed a significant increase in both
memory and verbal reasoning skills, especially among the more
competitive chess players (Ferguson 1995, pp. 8-9).
Chess has even been shown to raise students’ overall IQ scores. Using
the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children a Venezuelan study of over
4,000 second grade students found a significant increase in most
students’ IQ scores after only 4.5 months of systematically studying
chess. This occurred across all socio-economic groups and for both
males and females. The Venezuelan government was so impressed that
all Venezuelan schools introduced chess lessons starting in 1988-89
(summarised in Ferguson 1995, p. 8).Solving Problems and Synthesising
Information in a Globalising World
The internet, email, and computers are rapidly changing the skills
essential to succeed at school and work. As globalisation accelerates,
information is pouring in faster and faster. Information that took months
to track down a few years ago can now spin off the internet in just
minutes. With such easy access and tremendous volumes, the ability to
choose effectively among a wide variety of options is ever more vital.
In this world students must increasingly be able to respond quickly, flexibly
and critically. They must be able to wade through and synthesise vast
amounts of information, not just memorise chunks of it. They must learn to
recognize what is relevant and what is irrelevant. They also need to
acquire the skills to be able to learn new technologies quickly as well as
solve a continual stream of problems with these new technologies.
This is where chess as a tool to develop our children’s minds appears to
be especially powerful. By its very nature chess presents an ever-
changing set of problems. Except for the very beginning of the game —
where it’s possible to memorise the strongest lines — each move creates
a new position. For each of these a player tries to find the ‘best’ move by
calculating ahead, evaluating these future possibilities using a set of
theoretical principles. Importantly, more than one ‘best’ move may exist,
just as in the real world more than one best option may exist. Players
must learn to decide, even when the answer is ambiguous or difficult.
These thinking skills are becoming ever more valuable for primary and
secondary school students constantly confronted with new everyday
problems. If these students go to university it will be especially imperative
to understand how to apply broad principles to assess new situations
critically, rather than rely on absorbing a large number of ‘answers’. Far
too commonly my own university students do not have these skills. As a
result they become swamped by information, vainly searching for the right
answer to memorise rather than the various best options.
Conclusion:
The case, then, is exceptionally strong for using chess to develop our
children’s minds and help them cope with the growing complexities and
demands of a globalising world. More and more schools around the world
are recognising the value of chess, with instruction now becoming part of
standard curriculums. It’s of course just a game. Yet it has fascinated
and challenged some of the greatest minds of the last century, sparking
enough books about how to play to fill an entire library.
Chess is an especially effective teaching tool. It can equally challenge
the minds of girls and boys, gifted and average, athletic and non-athletic,
rich and poor. It can teach children the importance of planning and the
consequences of decisions. It can further teach how to concentrate, how
to win and lose gracefully, how to think logically and efficiently, and how to
make tough and abstract decisions (Seymour and Norwood 1993). At
more advanced levels it can teach flexible planning since playing well
requires a coherent plan, yet not one that is rigidly followed regardless of
the opponent’s response. Chess can also build confidence and self-
esteem without overinflating egos, as some losses are inevitable, even for
world champions.
Chess can potentially help teach underachieving gifted children how to
study, perhaps even leaving them with a passion for learning. Chess
tournaments can, moreover, provide a natural setting for a gifted child to
interact with other children of all ages, as many tournaments are not
divided by age but by ability (unlike most school activities and many other
sports). It’s common to see a six-year-old playing a twelve-year-old, or a
ten - year - old playing a seventeen - year - old. Young players can also
perform remarkably well in adult chess tournaments. In 1999 - 2000 in
Australia, for example, a thirteen - year - old won the New South Wales
championship, a fourteen - year - old won the South Australian
championship, a fifteen - year - old won the Queensland championship,
and a thirteen - year - old tied for second in the Australian championship.
Studying chess systematically has also been shown to raise students’ IQ
scores, academic exam scores (Dullea 1982; Palm 1990; Ferguson 2000,
p. 3), as well as strengthen mathematical, language, and reading skills
(Margulies 1991; Liptrap 1998; Ferguson 2000, pp. 3 - 4). Tournament
chess games, which involve clocks to limit the total time each player can
use, are also a fun way to provide practice at making fast and accurate
decisions under pressure, a skill that can help students cope with the
similar pressures of school exams. This is also a fun way to practise how
to put the mind into high gear, where intense concentration increases
alertness, efficiency of thought processes, and ultimately mental
performance.
Perhaps most importantly chess is a fun way to teach children how to
think and solve an eve - changing and diverse array of difficult problems.
With millions of possibilities in every game, players must continually face
new positions and new problems. They cannot solve these using a simple
formula or relying on memorised answers. Instead, they must analyse
and calculate, relying on general principles and patterns along with a
dose of creativity and originality – a skill that increasingly mirrors what
students must confront in their everyday schoolwork.
In June 1999 the International Olympic Committee officially recognized
chess as a sport. This is welcome news for the world’s six million
registered chess players as well as countless more unregistered players.
With such recognition hopefully even more of our children will turn to
chess, striving for sporting dreams that will leave them smarter, and
ultimately able to cope better in the real world of perpetual problems.
About the Author:
Peter Dauvergne is a Canadian chess master (FIDE rating 2250) and
Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the
University of Sydney, Australia. He is the editor of the journal Global
Environmental Politics (MIT Press) and the author of numerous books
and articles on environmental management in the Asia-Pacific. He can
be reached at peterd@econ.usyd.edu.au.
References*
* These and other chess and education research studies are
available from the United States Chess Federation, http://www.
uschess.org/.
Artise, John. “Chess and Education.”
Dullea, Gerard J., 1982. “Chess Makes Kids Smarter,” Chess Life,
November. Frank, Albert, 1974. Chess and Aptitudes, Doctoral
Dissertation. Translation, Stanley Epstein. Ferguson, Robert, 1995.
“Chess in Education: Research Summary.” A Review of Key Chess
Research Studies. For the Borough of Manhattan Community College
Chess in Education ‘A Wise Move’ Conference. Ferguson, Robert, 2000.
“The Use and Impact of CHESS,” in Section B, USA Junior Chess
Olympics Curriculum, copy emailed by the author. Gaudreau, Louise,
1992. “Étude Comparative sur les Apprentissages en Mathématiques 5e
Année.” Liptrap, James, 1998. “Chess and Standard Test Scores,” Chess
Life, March. Margulies, Stuart, 1991. “The Effect of Chess on Reading
Scores: District Nine Chess Program Second Year Report.” The American
Chess Foundation, New York.
Palm, Christine, 1990. “Chess Improves Academic Performance,” derived
from “New York City Schools Chess Program.” Seymour, Jane, and David
Norwood, 1993. “A Game for Life,” New Scientist 139 (September, no.
1889), pp. 23-26. Wojcio, Michael David, 1990. “The Importance of Chess
in the Classroom,” Atlantic Chess News.
By Dr Peter Dauvergne
University of Sydney
July, 2000
Is chess an art? A science? Some claim it’s both. Yet let’s be honest, it’s
really just a game. Fun, challenging, creative: but still a game, not much
different from tennis, cricket, football, or golf.
But there is one striking difference to these other popular games. While
learning to play almost any game can help build self-esteem and
confidence, chess is one of the few that fully exercises our minds.
Many of us could probably use this exercise, although it may be a bit late
for some. (At least for those of us old enough to read an article like this
voluntarily!) It’s not, however, too late for our children.
Chess is one of the most powerful educational tools available to
strengthen a child’s mind. It’s fairly easy to learn how to play. Most six or
seven year olds can follow the basic rules. Some kids as young as four
or five can play. Like learning a language or music an early start can
help a child become more proficient. Whatever a child’s age, however,
chess can enhance concentration, patience, and perseverance, as well
as develop creativity, intuition, memory, and most importantly, the ability
to analyse and deduce from a set of general principles, learning to make
tough decisions and solve problems flexibly.
This is undeniably a grand claim. The remainder of this paper outlines
some of the arguments and educational studies to justify and support this.
Concentration, Patience, and Perseverance:
To play chess well requires intense concentration. Some of the world’
s top players can undeniably look distracted, sometimes jumping up
between moves to walk around. A closer look, however, reveals that most
of these players are actually in deep concentration, relying on strong
visual recall to plan and calculate even when they are away from their
game. For young, inexperienced players, chess teaches the rewards of
concentration as well as provides immediate penalties for lapses. Few
teaching tools provide such quick feedback. One slip in concentration
can lead to a simple blunder, perhaps even ending the game. Only a
focused, patient and persistent young chess player will maintain steady
results – characteristics that are equally valuable for performing well at
school, especially in school exams.
Analysis, Logic, and Problem Solving:
Playing chess well involves a combination of aptitudes. A 1973-74 study
in Zaire by Dr Albert Frank (1974) found that good teenage chess players
(16-18 years old) had strong spatial, numerical, administrative-directional,
and paperwork abilities. Dr Robert Ferguson (1995, p. 2) notes that “This
finding tends to show that ability in chess is not due to the presence in an
individual of only one or two abilities but that a large number of aptitudes
all work together in chess.” Even more significantly Frank’s study found
that learning chess, even as teenagers, strengthened both numerical and
verbal aptitudes. This occurred for the majority of students (not just the
strong players) who took a chess course for two hours each week for one
school year. Other studies have added that playing chess can
strengthen a child’s memory (Artise).
A 1990-92 study in New Brunswick, Canada, further shows the value of
chess for developing problem solving skills among young children
(Gaudreau 1992). By integrating chess into the traditional mathematics
curriculum teachers were able to raise significantly the average problem
solving scores of their students. These students also scored far higher
on problem solving tests than ones who just took the standard
mathematics course. Primary school chess has now exploded in New
Brunswick. In 1989, 120 students played in the provincial school chess
championship. Three years later over 19,000 played (Ferguson 1995, p.
11).
Chess has also been shown to foster critical and creative thinking. Dr
Ferguson’s four-year study (1979-83) analysed the impact of chess on
students’ thinking skills in the Bradford Area School District in the United
States (grades 7-9). These students were already identified as gifted,
with intelligence quotient (IQ) scores above 130. Using two tests (Watson-
Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Torrance Tests of Creative
Thinking) Ferguson (1995, pp. 4-6) found that after spending 60 - 64
hours playing and studying chess over 32 weeks students showed
significant progress in critical thinking. He further found that chess
enhances “creativity in gifted adolescents.” He concluded that “it appears
that chess is superior to many currently used programs for developing
creative thinking and, therefore, could logically be included in a
differentiated program for mentally gifted students”.
Playing chess, however, is not only valuable for developing the skills of
gifted children. Average and even below average learners can also
benefit. Chess teacher Michael Wojcio (1990) notes that “even if a slow
learner does not grasp all of [the strategies and tactics in chess], he / she
can still benefit by learning language, concepts, and fine motor
movement.” During a program run by Dr Ferguson from September 1987
to May 1988 all members of a standard sixth grade class in rural
Pennsylvania were required to take chess lessons and play games. This
class had 9 boys and 5 girls. At the start of this study students took IQ
tests, producing a mean IQ of 104.6. Students then studied chess two or
three times per week while playing most days. They were also
encouraged to participate in tournaments. After this intensive chess
instruction a group of seven boys managed to finish second in the 1998
Pennsylvania State Scholastic Championship. Significantly, at the
conclusion of the study tests showed a significant increase in both
memory and verbal reasoning skills, especially among the more
competitive chess players (Ferguson 1995, pp. 8-9).
Chess has even been shown to raise students’ overall IQ scores. Using
the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children a Venezuelan study of over
4,000 second grade students found a significant increase in most
students’ IQ scores after only 4.5 months of systematically studying
chess. This occurred across all socio-economic groups and for both
males and females. The Venezuelan government was so impressed that
all Venezuelan schools introduced chess lessons starting in 1988-89
(summarised in Ferguson 1995, p. 8).Solving Problems and Synthesising
Information in a Globalising World
The internet, email, and computers are rapidly changing the skills
essential to succeed at school and work. As globalisation accelerates,
information is pouring in faster and faster. Information that took months
to track down a few years ago can now spin off the internet in just
minutes. With such easy access and tremendous volumes, the ability to
choose effectively among a wide variety of options is ever more vital.
In this world students must increasingly be able to respond quickly, flexibly
and critically. They must be able to wade through and synthesise vast
amounts of information, not just memorise chunks of it. They must learn to
recognize what is relevant and what is irrelevant. They also need to
acquire the skills to be able to learn new technologies quickly as well as
solve a continual stream of problems with these new technologies.
This is where chess as a tool to develop our children’s minds appears to
be especially powerful. By its very nature chess presents an ever-
changing set of problems. Except for the very beginning of the game —
where it’s possible to memorise the strongest lines — each move creates
a new position. For each of these a player tries to find the ‘best’ move by
calculating ahead, evaluating these future possibilities using a set of
theoretical principles. Importantly, more than one ‘best’ move may exist,
just as in the real world more than one best option may exist. Players
must learn to decide, even when the answer is ambiguous or difficult.
These thinking skills are becoming ever more valuable for primary and
secondary school students constantly confronted with new everyday
problems. If these students go to university it will be especially imperative
to understand how to apply broad principles to assess new situations
critically, rather than rely on absorbing a large number of ‘answers’. Far
too commonly my own university students do not have these skills. As a
result they become swamped by information, vainly searching for the right
answer to memorise rather than the various best options.
Conclusion:
The case, then, is exceptionally strong for using chess to develop our
children’s minds and help them cope with the growing complexities and
demands of a globalising world. More and more schools around the world
are recognising the value of chess, with instruction now becoming part of
standard curriculums. It’s of course just a game. Yet it has fascinated
and challenged some of the greatest minds of the last century, sparking
enough books about how to play to fill an entire library.
Chess is an especially effective teaching tool. It can equally challenge
the minds of girls and boys, gifted and average, athletic and non-athletic,
rich and poor. It can teach children the importance of planning and the
consequences of decisions. It can further teach how to concentrate, how
to win and lose gracefully, how to think logically and efficiently, and how to
make tough and abstract decisions (Seymour and Norwood 1993). At
more advanced levels it can teach flexible planning since playing well
requires a coherent plan, yet not one that is rigidly followed regardless of
the opponent’s response. Chess can also build confidence and self-
esteem without overinflating egos, as some losses are inevitable, even for
world champions.
Chess can potentially help teach underachieving gifted children how to
study, perhaps even leaving them with a passion for learning. Chess
tournaments can, moreover, provide a natural setting for a gifted child to
interact with other children of all ages, as many tournaments are not
divided by age but by ability (unlike most school activities and many other
sports). It’s common to see a six-year-old playing a twelve-year-old, or a
ten - year - old playing a seventeen - year - old. Young players can also
perform remarkably well in adult chess tournaments. In 1999 - 2000 in
Australia, for example, a thirteen - year - old won the New South Wales
championship, a fourteen - year - old won the South Australian
championship, a fifteen - year - old won the Queensland championship,
and a thirteen - year - old tied for second in the Australian championship.
Studying chess systematically has also been shown to raise students’ IQ
scores, academic exam scores (Dullea 1982; Palm 1990; Ferguson 2000,
p. 3), as well as strengthen mathematical, language, and reading skills
(Margulies 1991; Liptrap 1998; Ferguson 2000, pp. 3 - 4). Tournament
chess games, which involve clocks to limit the total time each player can
use, are also a fun way to provide practice at making fast and accurate
decisions under pressure, a skill that can help students cope with the
similar pressures of school exams. This is also a fun way to practise how
to put the mind into high gear, where intense concentration increases
alertness, efficiency of thought processes, and ultimately mental
performance.
Perhaps most importantly chess is a fun way to teach children how to
think and solve an eve - changing and diverse array of difficult problems.
With millions of possibilities in every game, players must continually face
new positions and new problems. They cannot solve these using a simple
formula or relying on memorised answers. Instead, they must analyse
and calculate, relying on general principles and patterns along with a
dose of creativity and originality – a skill that increasingly mirrors what
students must confront in their everyday schoolwork.
In June 1999 the International Olympic Committee officially recognized
chess as a sport. This is welcome news for the world’s six million
registered chess players as well as countless more unregistered players.
With such recognition hopefully even more of our children will turn to
chess, striving for sporting dreams that will leave them smarter, and
ultimately able to cope better in the real world of perpetual problems.
About the Author:
Peter Dauvergne is a Canadian chess master (FIDE rating 2250) and
Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the
University of Sydney, Australia. He is the editor of the journal Global
Environmental Politics (MIT Press) and the author of numerous books
and articles on environmental management in the Asia-Pacific. He can
be reached at peterd@econ.usyd.edu.au.
References*
* These and other chess and education research studies are
available from the United States Chess Federation, http://www.
uschess.org/.
Artise, John. “Chess and Education.”
Dullea, Gerard J., 1982. “Chess Makes Kids Smarter,” Chess Life,
November. Frank, Albert, 1974. Chess and Aptitudes, Doctoral
Dissertation. Translation, Stanley Epstein. Ferguson, Robert, 1995.
“Chess in Education: Research Summary.” A Review of Key Chess
Research Studies. For the Borough of Manhattan Community College
Chess in Education ‘A Wise Move’ Conference. Ferguson, Robert, 2000.
“The Use and Impact of CHESS,” in Section B, USA Junior Chess
Olympics Curriculum, copy emailed by the author. Gaudreau, Louise,
1992. “Étude Comparative sur les Apprentissages en Mathématiques 5e
Année.” Liptrap, James, 1998. “Chess and Standard Test Scores,” Chess
Life, March. Margulies, Stuart, 1991. “The Effect of Chess on Reading
Scores: District Nine Chess Program Second Year Report.” The American
Chess Foundation, New York.
Palm, Christine, 1990. “Chess Improves Academic Performance,” derived
from “New York City Schools Chess Program.” Seymour, Jane, and David
Norwood, 1993. “A Game for Life,” New Scientist 139 (September, no.
1889), pp. 23-26. Wojcio, Michael David, 1990. “The Importance of Chess
in the Classroom,” Atlantic Chess News.
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