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ARMENIA MAKES CHESS COMPULSORY AT SCHOOL
Eric Randall
TheRandomFact.com
http://therandomfact.com/armenia-makes-chess-compulsory-at-school/2210545/
Nov 16 2011
The chess obsessed nation of Armenia has just made chess mandatory
in schools between the ages of seven to nine. Armenian authorities
say that the reason behind this move is to help build character,
not necessarily to breed future chess champions.
'We hope that the Armenian teaching model might become among the best
in the world,' the Armenian education minister Armen Ashotyan told
Associated Press.
Learning chess in the classroom would he said, develop a sense of
responsibility and organisation.
Chess: a national obsession Chess is a national obsession in the
country of just three million people. In many ways the country is
defined by chess, just as New Zealand is defined by rugby.
Armenia reaffirmed its status as one of the chess world's leading
nations back in July when a six-person national squad came first
at the World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo, China. One of the
players in the squad was Levon Aronian, aged 28, who is a credible
challenger for the world crown with a current ranking of number three
in the world. On their return the team was feted as national heroes.
Armenia's passion for the game was fostered by the achievements of
Tigran Petrosian, who became world chess champion in 1963 and then
successfully defended his title three years later.
The country's chess rivalry with its neighbour Azerbaijan, the
birthplace of the legendary Garry Kasparov, is as intense a sporting
rivalry as you could wish to find. It makes England versus Germany
or Argentina at football seem almost gentle.
Half a million dollars have been allocated to the national chess
academy to draw up a course, train instructors and buy the necessary
equipment. An additional $1 million has been earmarked towards buying
furniture for chess classrooms.
Intellectual warfare Chess is a game of life and death - a metaphor for
war with two armies going all out to conquer the other. It is a game
of great beauty which belies its desperately competitive nature. It
is endlessly demanding of the brain in order to calculate the myriad
possibilities at any one time.
Learning the joys of problem solving and developing the ability to
concentrate (in these times of famously limited attention spans)
are most certainly two of the benefits to be gained from learning to
play a game which is both artistic and scientifically logical. A game
of chess is all-consuming to the point where the outside world does
not really exist for the duration, which is a delightfully relaxing
aspect to the game.
The move will certainly foster competitiveness - which is not a
feature that all educational authorities would want to encourage.
Watch out for Armenians moving up the world rankings in years to come.
It is a highly original move.
Eric Randall
TheRandomFact.com
http://therandomfact.com/armenia-makes-chess-compulsory-at-school/2210545/
Nov 16 2011
The chess obsessed nation of Armenia has just made chess mandatory
in schools between the ages of seven to nine. Armenian authorities
say that the reason behind this move is to help build character,
not necessarily to breed future chess champions.
'We hope that the Armenian teaching model might become among the best
in the world,' the Armenian education minister Armen Ashotyan told
Associated Press.
Learning chess in the classroom would he said, develop a sense of
responsibility and organisation.
Chess: a national obsession Chess is a national obsession in the
country of just three million people. In many ways the country is
defined by chess, just as New Zealand is defined by rugby.
Armenia reaffirmed its status as one of the chess world's leading
nations back in July when a six-person national squad came first
at the World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo, China. One of the
players in the squad was Levon Aronian, aged 28, who is a credible
challenger for the world crown with a current ranking of number three
in the world. On their return the team was feted as national heroes.
Armenia's passion for the game was fostered by the achievements of
Tigran Petrosian, who became world chess champion in 1963 and then
successfully defended his title three years later.
The country's chess rivalry with its neighbour Azerbaijan, the
birthplace of the legendary Garry Kasparov, is as intense a sporting
rivalry as you could wish to find. It makes England versus Germany
or Argentina at football seem almost gentle.
Half a million dollars have been allocated to the national chess
academy to draw up a course, train instructors and buy the necessary
equipment. An additional $1 million has been earmarked towards buying
furniture for chess classrooms.
Intellectual warfare Chess is a game of life and death - a metaphor for
war with two armies going all out to conquer the other. It is a game
of great beauty which belies its desperately competitive nature. It
is endlessly demanding of the brain in order to calculate the myriad
possibilities at any one time.
Learning the joys of problem solving and developing the ability to
concentrate (in these times of famously limited attention spans)
are most certainly two of the benefits to be gained from learning to
play a game which is both artistic and scientifically logical. A game
of chess is all-consuming to the point where the outside world does
not really exist for the duration, which is a delightfully relaxing
aspect to the game.
The move will certainly foster competitiveness - which is not a
feature that all educational authorities would want to encourage.
Watch out for Armenians moving up the world rankings in years to come.
It is a highly original move.