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WHY CHESS SHOULD BE REQUIRED IN U.S. SCHOOLS
Pacific Standard
April 15 2013
It's a game that motivates us to win, but also teaches us how to deal
with defeat.
April 15, 2013~U By Alex Berezow ~U
Rook to B8. Checkmate.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of defeating a worthy opponent
in a game of chess: the ultimate battle of the wits. Of course, it's
not a feeling I have very often, since I'm not very good at chess. On
the other hand, my father is officially an "expert" and my friend is
a "master." In other words, they are both very, very good. To give
an idea of how good, if I was to play 100 games with each of them,
I would win precisely zero.
Worldwide, chess is still a popular game, but it is treated with
particular seriousness in Eastern Europe. For instance, the Bulgarian
National Olympic Committee has been lobbying for chess to be recognized
as an Olympic sport, as has Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Russian president
of the World Chess Federation. In September 2011, Armenia made chess
a required subject for all children over the age of six.
(In the DW-TV news clip below, the children are in 2nd grade.)
Indeed, the Armenians may be on to something. One recent
psychology study found that chess was associated with greater
"cognitive abilities, coping and problem-solving capacity, and even
socioaffective development of children." Of course, because it was
a cohort (observational) study, the link could be due to some third
factor or the possibility that smart, mature children are more inclined
to play chess in the first place.
In the above video, the math/chess teacher says, "Chess trains logical
thinking. It teaches how to make decisions, trains memory, strengthens
will power, motivates children to win, and teaches them how to deal
with defeat. It's the only school subject that can do all of this."
That is a very interesting insight. Not only does chess help train the
brain, but it also teaches children basic life skills. In our culture,
we hand out trophies to winners and losers-or neglect to keep score at
all-out of some misguided, politically-correct notion that we should
never hurt anyone's feelings. But, in Armenia, schools are teaching
children reality: Sometimes you lose. That's an important lesson,
and it should be taught at a young age.
What makes chess so fascinating is that no two games will ever
play out the same. Checkers-really a game for intellectual wimps
(like me)-has 500 billion billion possible positions, and, in 2007,
researchers reported that a computer has solved the game. (If neither
side makes a mistake, the outcome is always a draw.) But chess is
far more complicated than checkers. It is unlikely that a computer
will ever "solve" the game.
Americans are concerned that our children aren't receiving a solid
K-12 education. Perhaps chess should be introduced into the curriculum
as a fun way to teach logic and memory?
In fact, I should get back to practicing the game. Knowing that there
are seven-year-old Armenians that could run me off the chessboard
without breaking a sweat is a tad humiliating.
http://www.psmag.com/education/why-chess-should-be-required-in-us-schools-55241/
From: Baghdasarian
Pacific Standard
April 15 2013
It's a game that motivates us to win, but also teaches us how to deal
with defeat.
April 15, 2013~U By Alex Berezow ~U
Rook to B8. Checkmate.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of defeating a worthy opponent
in a game of chess: the ultimate battle of the wits. Of course, it's
not a feeling I have very often, since I'm not very good at chess. On
the other hand, my father is officially an "expert" and my friend is
a "master." In other words, they are both very, very good. To give
an idea of how good, if I was to play 100 games with each of them,
I would win precisely zero.
Worldwide, chess is still a popular game, but it is treated with
particular seriousness in Eastern Europe. For instance, the Bulgarian
National Olympic Committee has been lobbying for chess to be recognized
as an Olympic sport, as has Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Russian president
of the World Chess Federation. In September 2011, Armenia made chess
a required subject for all children over the age of six.
(In the DW-TV news clip below, the children are in 2nd grade.)
Indeed, the Armenians may be on to something. One recent
psychology study found that chess was associated with greater
"cognitive abilities, coping and problem-solving capacity, and even
socioaffective development of children." Of course, because it was
a cohort (observational) study, the link could be due to some third
factor or the possibility that smart, mature children are more inclined
to play chess in the first place.
In the above video, the math/chess teacher says, "Chess trains logical
thinking. It teaches how to make decisions, trains memory, strengthens
will power, motivates children to win, and teaches them how to deal
with defeat. It's the only school subject that can do all of this."
That is a very interesting insight. Not only does chess help train the
brain, but it also teaches children basic life skills. In our culture,
we hand out trophies to winners and losers-or neglect to keep score at
all-out of some misguided, politically-correct notion that we should
never hurt anyone's feelings. But, in Armenia, schools are teaching
children reality: Sometimes you lose. That's an important lesson,
and it should be taught at a young age.
What makes chess so fascinating is that no two games will ever
play out the same. Checkers-really a game for intellectual wimps
(like me)-has 500 billion billion possible positions, and, in 2007,
researchers reported that a computer has solved the game. (If neither
side makes a mistake, the outcome is always a draw.) But chess is
far more complicated than checkers. It is unlikely that a computer
will ever "solve" the game.
Americans are concerned that our children aren't receiving a solid
K-12 education. Perhaps chess should be introduced into the curriculum
as a fun way to teach logic and memory?
In fact, I should get back to practicing the game. Knowing that there
are seven-year-old Armenians that could run me off the chessboard
without breaking a sweat is a tad humiliating.
http://www.psmag.com/education/why-chess-should-be-required-in-us-schools-55241/
From: Baghdasarian