Studies Show Chess Improves Thinking Skills

In a BBC News article titled, “Should every child be made to play chess?”; the question was never second guessing whether chess improves and child’s cognitive abilities but rather this was completely recognized that it indeed was; but importantly it asked whether children should learn it as a mandatory school subject given the positive results countries like the China, UK, Russia, US and Armenia have experienced.

So what are the benefits that these countries have seen come from their children learning and playing chess?

• A two-year study conducted in the US by Dr Stuart Marguilies found that learning chess improved reading test scores and reading performance in elementary schools.
• Another study by Professor Peter Dauvergne, who is also a chess master, concluded playing chess raised IQ scores, strengthen problem solving skills, enhanced memory and fostered creative thinking.
• Malcolm Pein, chief executive of Chess in Schools and Communities, a programme that puts chess into UK schools, says there are lots of reasons why chess has a positive impact on primary school children.  “Not only does it give children good thinking skills and improve concentration, memory and calculation, but it teaches children to take responsibility for their actions.

One country, Armenia have made it mandatory in their schools and with a population of 3.2 million, Armenia children regularly beat powerhouse champions from Russia, China and the US.

One very important aspect of chess is that chess, as pointed out by Malcolm Pein, is that introduces “behavioural attitudes and social attributes”; as children shake hands at the start, and it promotes a reasonably quiet and disciplined decorum.  One thing is for certain, the game draws on brain power and experience, its an addictive process and is even better than video games, television or the iPhone/iPad.

One thing to note, Chess on a Computer is never the same as playing a real person because you are not just playing chess; students are playing a “person”, a person who has doubt, fears, confidence, and a whole range of emotions and when a child plays a person, they are learning how to negotiate not only their own emotions but learning how to deal in the game with the emotions of the person they are playing.

References:

1. “Should every child be made to play chess?” by Vanessa Barford, BBC News – Link: “http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-13140772”
2. “Does Chess really improve thinking skills?” by James Altucher, USCF Master – Link: https://www.quora.com/Does-chess-really-improve-thinking-skills?ref=slate&rel_pos=1#!n=24

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