Benefits of Chess For Kids
If you are a chess player, particularly a parent who plays chess, you are probably strongly convinced that chess provides innumerable benefits for youth who learn and play the game. However, if you are a teacher, administrator, or another professional who is not familiar with chess, the benefits may not seem that obvious to you. If you ask a colleague who is, especially a teacher who coaches a school chess club, you might learn about these benefits of chess for kids:
A teacher who coaches a school chess club is the best person to ask about the benefits of chess for kids. Photo: Rainbow Elementary (Madison, Alabama).
Chess Advances Intellectual Skills
Academic performance, memory and critical thinking, and problem-solving and planning ahead are just a few of the ways where learning and playing chess can benefit kids.
Chess Boosts Academic Performance
Chess requires kids to use cognitive skills such as analysis, thinking, and comprehension. Convinced about the value of chess, Benjamin Franklin wrote in his essay “The Morals of Chess”: “The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits, ready on all occasions.”
Because chess is based on mathematics, it is a STEM activity. It helps to develop skills for solving problems, thinking analytically, and working independently. Several research studies conclude that chess participation enhances reading performance and demonstrate that students who participate in chess clubs significantly outperform other students in reading and mathematics.
The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind ... are to be acquired and strengthened by it.
—Benjamin Franklin
A young Brewington Hardaway (left) and Coach Chris Johnson analyze a game they have just completed.
Chess Improves Memory And Critical Thinking
Chess improves visual memory, attention span, and spatial-reasoning ability. Because it requires kids to make a series of decisions, they learn to think critically, evaluate alternatives, and use logic to in their decision-making. When kids study chess, they not only play games but they also practice playing games. Really! Learning and memorizing openings, defensive positions, tactical possibilities, and basic checkmating patterns are key components for improving chess skills.
ChessKid.com is useful to introduce scientific methodology in a classroom or home. Chess puzzles and lessons help teach kids how to think their way through solving complex problems, and it’s a fun way to introduce STEM, STEAM, and 21st-century skills. For related information, see the article “Can Chess Enhance STEM Skills?”
Workouts on ChessKid show key positions that kids practice regularly to improve. When they get the solution right three times in a row, they are not only proud — but they are also improving their memory. Puzzles on ChessKid are highly motivating because the kids know that there is a solution. They challenge critical-thinking skills, and feedback is instantaneous. Themes, an option in Puzzles, helps to practice critical thinking in areas such as basic checkmates, endgame tactics, and sacrifices.
A hanging pawn is a weakness that can be avoided by thinking critically during a game.
Chess Helps With Problem-Solving And Planning Ahead
Chess helps kids to develop planning skills. To be successful in chess, kids have to analyze multiple possibilities and outcomes and then formulate a winning plan. Every game presents risks and rewards. To win, kids have to evaluate them carefully. Problem-solving in chess can strengthen decision-making skills needed when the kids mature and face future problems and challenges. With the Analysis Board of ChessKid, kids can review their past games, identify mistakes, and see what moves they should have made if they picked weak ones.
By using the Analysis Board of ChessKid, kids can learn from their past mistakes.
Players analyze the merits of not only their moves but also the potential moves that opponents can make. When kids make a mistake in chess, it’s a learning opportunity. They can then evaluate how could they have played better. Making mistakes is not a problem; learning from them is the goal, as explained in the article “Why Mistakes & Blunders Are So Great.”
Analyzing a move effectively before making it is a rewarding experience. Poor decision-making is very noticeable during a chess game, and the negative consequences become obvious very quickly.
Chess Builds Character
Chess cultivates many positive characteristics in children. Can you think of another game that offers so many opportunities to be creative, improve concentration skills, practice being calm under pressure, create a competitive spirit, and learn independence and responsibility?
Chess Nurtures Creativity
A child who is not gifted artistically or athletically has no similar disadvantage in playing chess. Creativity is the attribute needed to develop a game plan, select moves, and create tactics. Would you be surprised to see a shy or withdrawn kid who is not outgoing in the classroom be a bold attacker on a chessboard? Creativity is not limited by anyone’s style and personality. Each chess game is a new opportunity to be creative.
Think of a basic chessboard, which has only 64 squares. Now consider each piece and how you can move it by itself or in coordination with other pieces. To win games, kids have to apply their creative insights to develop a path to victory. Developing a winning plan demands more creativity than many non-chess players realize.
Each chess game is a new opportunity to be creative. Photo: Quitman School District (Mississippi).
Chess Strengthens Engagement And Focus
Kids learn to improve their focus and concentration when they play chess regularly. They have to ignore distractions and concentrate on the game. Concentration skills developed as chess players can be useful for completing school assignments or performing everyday tasks.
Concentration skills are improved by Puzzle Duel on ChessKid. This feature lets kids compete against each other in how effectively they concentrate on recognizing patterns and finding the best moves. Another useful program of Chess Kid is the Vision tool, a component of the Learn feature. It teaches kids to focus and concentrate by identifying quickly a square on the chessboard. This timed activity encourages the youth to concentrate on board positions and to quickly identify them.
Kids can improve concentration skills by playing chess and learning with coaches such as National Master James Canty, a ChessKid coach.
Chess Builds Skills To Remain Calm Approach Under Pressure
When kids play chess, they have to stay calm so that they can think clearly. Every game creates pressure to find a way to win and to avoid a losing move. Staying calm under pressure is a critical life skill. When a game is played with a time control, staying calm is critical when the clock is winding down and the remaining time is running low. Deadlines faced routinely in life are simply represented on a chessboard each time a game is played.
Playing chess gives kids the opportunity to learn to remain calm under pressure.
Chess Fosters Competitive Spirit
When kids play chess, they learn how to win as well as to lose. Although chess develops a competitive spirit among kids, it teaches the importance of winning with humility and losing with dignity. Winning with humility is a trait that is learned; few of us are born this way, and chess provides the opportunity to develop that trait. Similarly, the importance of showing empathy to an opponent who loses a game nurtures the value of good sportsmanship. Accepting a loss tactfully is as important as winning graciously.
Kids learn to respect their opponents (and their chess skills). Fair play is a critical component of every game. Unlike most competitive activities, chess has no umpire or referee, although top-level tournaments do have arbiters (to resolve disputes).
A competitive spirit was alive and well at ChessFest 2022, cosponsored by ChessKid, where a ‘living’ chess in Trafalgar Square in London entertained kids and their families. Photo: Mike Klein.
Chess Encourages Independence And Responsibility
Another major benefit of chess is understanding that every move has consequences. Kids have to take responsibility for the decisions that they make and the actions that they take. Just like in life, in chess choices have consequences — good and bad.
Chess teaches resilience, the ability to cope and adapt to new situations. When kids fail, they have to take responsibility, and chess is a learning vehicle to teach the importance of responsibility. Coaches, parents, and teachers are not responsible for the results of a game — only the players themselves are.
Yes, taking responsibility for a blunder is a lesson learned playing chess.
Players are never allowed to put their kings into check or checkmate. Similarly, in life, kids have to take responsibility to avoid being in bad situations. When kids see a chess piece in danger, they need to take corrective action much like seeking a way out if in a harmful situation in life. For more insights, see the article “10 Life Lessons And Anti-Bullying Message Made Meaningful Through Chess."
Chess Has Even More Benefits Of Chess
Developing academic skills and building strong characters are major benefits for kids of playing chess. The following are other significant benefits that are also useful:
Social Aspects Of Chess Are Important
Chess brings people together. One of the world’s oldest games, it has been played for more than 1,500 years. Over the centuries as it spread around the globe, it brought players from different cultures, backgrounds, and ages together. Today chess continues to connect players to each other. Games played online on ChessKid literally span the globe, and players represent every culture.
Children particularly thrive in activities where they compete in healthy play. Learning chess in a class with other students is a great way to build positive relationships. As players learn to play by the rules of the game, they develop trust and share in positive relationships with each other. On ChessKid, kids also develop informal networks of friends and playing acquaintances. Groups for a club, school, or classroom are easily formed.
As kids learn chess, they develop trust and share in positive relationships.
Chess Develops Confidence And Self-Esteem
The rewards of improving in chess are immediately recognizable. Each win boosts a kid’s self-esteem. When kids come home after being in a chess club at school and share with their families, “Guess what I learned today,” the gains in self-confidence are noticeable.
As kids learn to play chess and improve their skills, they build confidence and self-esteem about how much they have progressed. When kids realize how much progress they have achieved, the confidence for advancing further is also developed. In a chess club at school, kids often teach each other. As they gain experience, they can show chess concepts such as pawn promotion or en passant to new players — an invaluable promotion in their self-esteem.
As kids gain experience, they can show chess concepts such as pawn promotion to new players.
The value of success at chess is incalculable. When my granddaughter was five, she won her first game in the first tournament (unrated) she entered and played well enough to bring home a medal. Don’t tell her that nothing was at stake. Since that weekend, “chess champion” is been part of her identity.
Chess Offers Alternative Screen Time
Kids are mesmerized by captivating screens whether they are games, videos, movies, or other entertainment. Why not substitute their desire to watch or play something online with chess that has positive benefits? Unproductive screen time that doesn’t promote active learning can be replaced with online chess resources. With ChessKid, videos are instructional, and kids learned from the content.
Have you noticed a child’s ability to concentrate and focus is affected by how much time they spend playing video games or watching television? Chess can counteract the negative effects of the digital era. Although chess is a fun activity, it also cultivates patience, problem-solving, creativity, abstract reasoning, improved memory, concentration, critical thinking, strategic planning, visualization skills, and so much more.
ChessKid videos are instructional, and kids learn from the content.
Wrapping Up
These benefits are obviously generally accepted by chess players without too much disagreement. However, what do educators, administrators, researchers, and other professionals have to say? For specific studies, particularly as they relate to the scholastic value of chess, see the article “Studies on the Educational Value of Chess” that identifies several leading studies and summarizes their conclusions.
Are you excited about teaching chess? You’re joining a long legacy of mentors who respect the game and have shared their enthusiasm with new players. Soon your kid will be part of a cherished tradition that spans the globe. Who knows, maybe one day your kid will tell a story, just like Bobby Fischer did, about learning the game from you as another generation of players is taught.
_521f4.png)
Finally, if you yourself are interested in teaching chess to kids, ChessKid has prepared an ebook for you if you have been asking, How do I even start a chess program and teach kids how to play chess? This resource is for teachers, coaches, and parents to give them guidance on starting a chess program for kids. This ebook is for you
