Chess & Children

We'll come straight to the point - If you are a parent, get your child involved in chess. If you are an aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent to children, get them involved in chess. If you have a friend or neighbor who has children, urge them to get their children involved in chess.

Chess is the one game that they can enjoy equally in childhood & adulthood. But besides the fascination of the game, chess has been proven to be an important tool in developing children's skills in other disciplines, improving their I.Q. & improving their school grades. Chess is inexpensive - the equipment costs are nominal. Later on if the child plays tournament there may be a nominal entry fee. Like music lessons, chess lessons can be taken & at less costs.

Chess is not the stodgy, geeky pursuit a lot of people may think it is. Chess is pure intellectual challenge. The power of the mind dictates the outcome, not chance, not luck, not roll of the dice. Some of the benefits of chess include:

Math Development
Pattern Recognition
Science Achievement
Sportsmanship
English Skills
Dealing With Undesirable Situations
Communication Abilities
Learning From Mistakes
Creativity
Responsibility for Actions
Concentration
Discipline
Logical Reasoning
Measurable Individual Accomplishments
Critical Thinking
Team Spirit
Memory
Commitment
Problem Solving
Academic Competition for All
Intellectual Maturity
Belonging to a Good and Diverse Crowd
Self Esteem
Cultural Enrichment
Analyzing Actions & Consequences
Social Skills
Planning Ahead
Empathetic Awareness
Complex Decision Making
Improved Attendance
Higher Grades

Read these studies on how children benefit from playing chess, here, here & here

Here is a site that provides many links to beginners chess, scholastic chess, instructional chess, etc. There are many on-line sites where you can play opponents in real time, such as Yahoo Chess, Pogo.com or WorldChessNetwork.com

Chess can be slow & deliberative in long games or it can be a frenzy of pieces flying in exciting 5, 10, or 20 minute time limits. The best learning process is "over the board", rather than on-line, meaning the child will learn more with someone sitting across the board from him or her then playing a computer program, although software programs are a great secondary tool. Chess is awash with beginner books & beginner software that can help a child learn the game. If you know how to play, even at an entry level, then you can teach a child. Check your schools to see if they have a chess club, check area towns to see if there are local chess clubs. Start a school or local club if there are none. Many elementary schools have tournaments in-house or against other schools. Besides the dead silence that you usually don't associate with children, it is fascinating watching a room full of 10 yr olds deep in thought & puzzlement.

The United States Chess Federation (USCF) provides free scholastic chess materials & support.

You can start a child on the road to a rewarding endeavor which will carry him or her through life in ways that are directly related to what they have learned through chess. It is a joy to behold your child or any child as he or she sits at a game totally focused & using his or her mind in trying to work out the conundrum of the game in progress. It is joyfully humiliating to have that child, in time, regularly beat you at the game.