Life-skills Learned from a Game: Children enjoy their leisure time with activities that are easily available. Teachers, parents, and other family influences encourage children to participate in programs that provide benefits to his or her learning and development. So what kind of activity is easily available and provides developmental benefits? The answer is chess! Chess is multi-faceted in helping children learn life-skills. Many of the key effects of playing chess should be analyzed by anyone interested in helping youngsters learn more efficiently and enjoyably. Your findings will probably lead you to realize that children need solid pastimes in a world of Playstation and Nintendo.
Learning can be Fun: Ask any person who has a passion for a game if their pastime is enjoyable. Their answer will be “yes!” of course. However, chess is much different from just any game. Becoming involved in a chess game can increase the players IQ. Imagine the effect of children becoming seriously involved in games of chess repeatedly. They would naturally score higher on science, math, language, and many other tests. A case study that was conducted using chess teachers in elementary schools realized that “the patterning among the three groups of scores on the various tests, made at the beginning and end of the study period, point to positive changes with regard to ‘comprehension’ and ‘arithmetic’ skills in the ‘chess coaching’ group.” (Forest, Davidson, Shucksmith, and Glendinning, 2005, p.52).
A surprising benefit is that young people who play chess learn at an accelerated rate and may not have any idea that learning is one of the benefits of playing. He or she may simply be trying to have fun, which comes naturally for a child who sits down to enjoy a game. Some youngsters play for the feel of the heavy weighted chess piece in their small hand, ready to wage large-scale war on an eight-by-eight chessboard, never realizing that life-skills will be enhanced during this time of battle against an opponent. In effect, he or she becomes more open to learning new subjects, and retains an open mind concerning the learning process. However, this is not the only effect that chess has on children.
Concentration: Being very competitive, some children are willing to concentrate very hard to win a game of chess. The ability to calculate the possible outcomes is learned with experience over the game board, and this will help children deal with the consequences of their actions. One researcher explains, “Clearly, one crucial lesson all young people must learn is to think before they act. Chess teaches this skill in an authentic way: every move in chess has consequences, and successful players must learn to anticipate these consequences many moves in advance. An opponent’s expected response is what guides the player’s decision to make or avoid a certain move” (Kennedy, 2004).
Imagine a child who is putting fervent effort into beating an adult opponent. He is concentrating, his eyes are wide, and he is intent on winning – checkmate! The child is victorious. This young person would have learned that concentration and focus directly relate to winning and losing. He also would gain self-esteem having overcome an adult at “a game of wits”, as chess is often perceived to be. A victory like this enables a person to understand the true value in giving one’s full effort. This person can excel in elementary school as well as college using these skills, applying them to daily life while working with the people who they come into contact with.
Social Development: Chess is a very social game. It requires two people to sit and exchange moves over a chessboard and interact with each other physically, intellectually, and psychologically. This allows a player to make new friends who share a common interest. To interact efficiently, one might find the need to increase his or her vocabulary with chess terms or learn a new language entirely. Robert (Bobby) Fischer, 11th world chess champion, taught himself the Russian language to keep up-to-date with the latest chess theories at the age of 15. Though not all players would go to this extreme to interact socially, the chess player is more likely than the non-player to be involved in clubs and social activities. The smell of the vinyl chessboard, the sound of the ticking chess clock, the sight of the different types of chessmen are all senses that are shared by the chess players and inspire them to play. Children are mesmerized by the ancient game and are willing to harness the skills needed to succeed at it. Success is important for young people because they grow up to become adults with careers and lives of their own.
Career and Life: Each adult can remember the key activities that helped them learn the skills that they possess today. Would you have liked to learn chess as a child? Can you see the benefits that chess can instill as a learning device? The child who enjoys learning, can concentrate well and has outstanding social skills will become a very prosperous adult. Career wise, they can finish school achieving high scores on exams, graduate with a degree, and move on to starting a career which they will find fulfilling. "Chess-play assists the learning of 'how to learn' and creates a desire, alongside increased motivation and the will to use knowledge'. This initiative has made a significant difference to classroom life, family circumstances and community development." (Aberdeen City Council, 2005) The child that learned chess will see the win or lose effect in life because the chess player is very good at setting goals. Therefore, he or she will work hard to fulfill the necessary tasks to reach the plotted goals in career and education. The minds of those who play chess can focus in on life like the tuning of binoculars to see a far away object. It is our job to help children pick up these life-skills and use them.
Conclusion: Making educated choices on what activities should be supported in the community is easier when you weigh the benefits that are offered against the costs. There is little to no cost in allowing, supporting and promoting this intellectual activity within the community. Chess offers a vast assortment of effects, all of which can contribute to a skilled and developed person. Would you like to enable children to become better learners? Whether you are a teacher, parent, principal, or any other person who has the possibility of influencing the learning process, keep the benefits of chess in mind when you are looking for an activity to present to youngsters.
References:
Aberdeen City Council (2005). Huge benefits for young chess players. Retrieved August
26, 2005, from the Chess Scotland website:
http://www.chessscotland.com/archives/abcity2005.htm
Forest, D., Davidson, I., Shucksmith, J., and Glendinning, T. (January 2005). Chess
development in Aberdeens’s primary schools: A study of literacy and social capital,
48-52. Retrieved August 26, 2005, from the Scottish Executive Research website:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/Research/14478/21999
Kennedy, Mark (August, 2004). More than a game, eight transition lessons chess teaches,
¶7. Retrieved August 26, 2005, from Cyc-Online website:
http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0804-chess.html.