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Title: Should every child be taught to play chess?
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URL Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13140772
Published: Apr 26, 2011
Author: Vanessa Barford
Post Date: 2011-04-26 05:30:23 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 114
Comments: 4
Armenia is making chess compulsory in schools, but could mandatory study of a board game really help children's academic performance and behaviour? Every child aged six or over in Armenia is now destined to learn chess. The authorities there believe compulsory lessons will "foster schoolchildren's intellectual development" and improve critical thinking skills. The country has plenty of reasons to believe in chess. It treats grandmasters like sports stars, championships are displayed on giant boards in cities and victories celebrated with the kind of frenzy most countries reserve for football. Chess is nothing less than a national obsession. It may only have a population of 3.2 million, but Armenia regularly beats powerhouses such as Russia, China and the US and its national team won gold at the International Chess Olympiad in 2006 and 2008. Added to that, the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has just been re-elected as chair of the Armenian Chess Federation. Creative Now the chess-mad country is investing nearly $1.5m (£920,000) to teach all of its children. But for other countries constantly strategising about how to boost child development and education, is making study of the Sicilian and the Queen's Gambit a good idea? Proponents of chess in schools do claim some evidence. 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. Armenian chess players celebrating a win In Armenia chess players are sports stars
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#1. To: All (#0)
An excellent idea. To learn chess properly is excellent for developing concentration and clear thinking. It is also a game of strategy and creativity. Xbox's are OK, but games have so much going on they often affect concentration rather than encourage focused, clear, logical thinking that learning and understanding chess does. Given the behavior in many schools today, that can only be good.
I feel certain that a significant number of these children will grow up with the sting of having been beaten in every chess game. Although it brings two people to the game board, there's seldom conversation or any other desirable interaction. A less spatial game is Gin Rummy; it encourages continuous recalculation of numbers, memory of cards played, and a strategy to minimize the opponent's point spread, and it's a tad friendlier.
Spoken like a true loser, Bernie.
Good idea. Chess teaches several skills that todays youth seem to be missing.
From among comments:
#2. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
#3. To: Shoonra (#2)
I feel certain that a significant number of these children will grow up with the sting of having been beaten in every chess game.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#4. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
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