Benefits of teaching chess

How often do we teach children how to think? Thinking and problem solving are skills required in almost every activity, from maths to sport. It is important to provide activities for children to practise and develop their thinking and make them aware of the thinking processes that they should employ.

Chess is a good activity for making children aware of their thinking. Children can be asked:

• Are you planning ahead?

• Are you following a particular strategy or plan?

• Do you have a backup plan?

• What do you think your opponent might be trying to do?

Chess is a game that is purely about thinking, so it is the perfect opportunity for children to develop their thinking skills. I encourage children to think of chess a a sport, for the mind!

Chess and computational thinking

The Computing national curriculum puts computational thinking at the forefront of computing teaching.

It states,

'A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world.'

Computational thinking is usually understood to include the following steps:

• Decomposing a problem

• Pattern recognition

• Abstraction (focusing on important information)

• Algorithm design (formulating instructions to solve a problem)

Other elements are sometimes included:

• Debugging (observing, spotting and fixing errors)

• Generalisation (applying a solution from one problem to another)

I would also include:

• Resilience (evaluating tools available, trying different approaches)

Is there a case for chess developing these skills?

In my opinion, undoubtably - yes! Pattern spotting is a key component of success in chess. Even beginner players can be taught to recognise openings, early traps and sequences of play.

Children can be taught to think of sequences of play in chess in terms of algorithms; some openings such as the London System and King's Indian Defence follow a fairly predictable sequence of moves, no matter what the opponent plays.

Perhaps most importantly, chess helps develop children's metathinking - their thinking about their thinking. Children can be stopped during games and asked to talk about their thinking. Playing class games against the teacher on a screen-based chess board, such as the one on Chesskid.com is a great way to develop metathinking!

Patterns can be as simple as knowing that at the beginning, it is best to move pieces to the centre. More advanced patterns might involve children learning openings, and counters to their opponent's openings. One of the best way for children to improve their chess is through completing puzzles, such as those on LiChess, or Chess.com.

On the Resources page of this website, I have posted a free progression of skills for teaching primary chess.

Pastoral benefits

I encourage children to think of chess as a 'sport for the brain.' This helps them to realise the benefits of chess on their thinking and strategy, as well as the need to train, persevere and accept setbacks in chess.

Chess teaches children self-discipline, as they play games in a quiet and focused environment. It can be an activity used to promote mindfulness - focusing the brain entirely on the activity at hand. Chess can also be a very social activity, as children play games against each other, discuss chess and share their enjoyment of the game. More and more schools are setting up chess teams in the UK and there are inter-school chess competitions that teams can enter - Chess In Schools is an organisation that facilitates this.

Teaching chess

Chesskid.com has made come excellent materials available for teaching principles of chess. This includes a YouTube channel, with some humourous, but informative videos that teach principles of chess like checkmates and openings.

Teachers should feel confident simplifying chess games when teaching chess, such as giving children a queen, king and rook and asking them to checkmate the opponent's king. This is analogous to simplified sports drills.

As mentioned above, the progression of skills I have included on the resources page may help teachers play chess teaching. This is an ambitious document that might take several years of chess teaching to achieve!

Concluding thoughts

There are many reasons why chess is gaining prominence as an activity in schools in the UK. In Armenia, chess is required teaching in primary schools - such are the perceived benefits, supported by some fascinating research. Chess can certainly be seen as comparable to a sport and given status in school in a similar way.

Chess is also a fun hobby, that teachers and children can explore and discuss together. It is an activity that can take children away from screens, develop their social skills, fine motor skills and thinking.

For these reasons, chess should be considered by all schools as an activity to promote and offer in schools.