Educational Value of Chess
According to an article published in the Johns Hopkins School of Education it's not about Kings, Queens, and Rooks, but rather, quadrants and coordinates, thinking strategically and foreseeing consequences. It's about lines and angles, weighing options and making decisions. Chess might just be the perfect teaching and learning tool. Since 2000, America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) has been working with 2nd and 3rd grade students and their teachers to promote the use of chess as an educational tool. The goal of the First Move™ curriculum is to use the game of chess as a tool, to increase higher level thinking skills, advance math and reading skills, and build self-confidence.
Research shows, there is a strong correlation between learning to play chess and academic achievement. In 2000, a landmark study found that students who received chess instruction scored significantly higher on all measures of academic achievement, including math, spatial analysis, and non-verbal reasoning ability (Smith and Cage, 2000). Read more…
IS 813 is an intermediate school set in a working class neighborhood in Brooklyn. There chess teams have dominated school chess tournaments for years, regularly defeating teams from the wealthiest and most prestigious private schools in the country. Elizabeth Spiegel, their chess coach, points out that when she goes over their games with her students it is probably the first time in their school lives that their intellectual work is subjected to rigorous examination. For a 10-year old kid,this can be intimidating, but also very empowering. Their intellectual work is being taken seriously.
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