justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

Educational Benefits of Chess

I was taught the game of chess as an adult by a 14-year old boy, Leroy Reams, at the Oakland Boys Club, where I worked as an activity director. Leroy eventually became a professional baseball player whose career stats at the major league level total one pinch-hit plate appearance as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies back in the late 60s.

I played chess occasionally until I first taught school. In 1972, my class of fifth graders constructed a chessboard on our classroom floor, covering the 12x12 inch tiles with red and black construction paper, with chess pieces created from various sizes of plastic containers. (A visiting photographer posted a picture of our classroom game in the local paper while covering a school announcement.)

Upon returning to the public school classroom this year after a break of nearly four decades, I introduced chess as an enrichment activity for my third grade students during my nine-week long substitute assignment.

I also sent home an article from the John Hopkins School of Education on The Educational Value of Chess, providing a justification for including the chess in a young child’s education development. Specifically, one paragraph stands out that provides support for including chess for young children:

Chess has a unique and strong brand attribute, in that it is

generally perceived that playing chess and being smart are

connected. This can be very positive driver for young children,

who, rather than being intimidated as many adults are,

embrace the notion. As children get older, a stigma, or nerd

factor attaches to "being smart." But in the second and third

grade, kids want to be thought of as smart. It is also an

important age for developing an attachment to school. If kids

associate school and learning with fun, they will most likely

develop a stronger attachment to school.

I was amazed by the levels of interest and passion displayed, and especially appreciated the increased confidence in some students who were struggling in a few areas of our studies. In fact, the winner of our double elimination chess tournament was a student who was quite reserved, had a minor speech impediment, but was seen as a “winner” by his classmates after winning six of his seven matches.

I believe all of us in our classroom were winners and a game that goes back thousands of years played a significant role – check mate!