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Chess – Most Preferred Activity class for Schools and Parents

Chess is a game that can be accessed easily by players of all ages and levels. When it comes to the practice of chess, offline games can be played with other students perhaps in school settings as extracurriculars or even when children play with friends or family members. Moreover, children may also opt for practice online with the aid of www.chesskid.com or www.chess.com where they may play with bots or other players who are at the same level as them.

Chess provides a scope of overall development which exceeds the chess board, and even the classroom. The royal game helps children to improve concentration, solve complex challenges, and think beyond the current move, all within a given time constraint.

This all-inclusive nature of chess is why it is catching up fast in getting integrated in school programs. More and more schools and academia are realizing Chess as an extremely valuable activity and a skill by itself. What sets chess apart from other after-school activities is the comprehensive way in which it provides an experience of skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking, to name a few, which prepare individuals to face the world.

Case Studies on Chess in Schools

A research study in a New York City school chess program has found evidence that students who play chess have shown not only better scores in mathematics but have also performed better than the average student at a district- as well as country-level in terms of reading scores.

Speaking specifically of mathematical capacity in students, another study conducted in Denmark has shown that the introduction of chess instruction in math lectures resulted in increased math scores, improved mathematical ability and reasoning, seemingly related directly to the instruction of chess lessons.

There are several other similar case-studies all over the world finding Chess – as an extracurricular activity does impact positively in Children’s academic growth.

In the above video, the 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 this.”

Schools adopting Chess

This year in the month of March, European Parliament had declared that the introduction of the programme ‘Chess in School’ in the educational systems of the European Union.

Aligning with this declaration, on May 19, 2022, The Ministry of Education in Georgia has announced that starting with the next school year, chess will be a mandatory subject for first-grade students in the country. It will apply to all the 2,200 schools in Georgia, both public and private.

In India, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced that his government will promote chess at schools and colleges. During the Olympiad, Mr. Patnaik while receiving the ceremonial Olympiad torch, he had said “We also organized the World Junior Chess Championship in 2016. We intend to further strengthen the game across the state, especially in schools. Chess is a game that can be easily taught as not much infrastructure or equipment is required. We will create competitions at school and college levels regularly and promote the game in a professional manner”.

Taking inspiration from the Chess Olympiad, the Karnataka state government has issued a notification to introduce the game of Chess to the students. Every school has a library hour and they are now being put to good use. Chess has been introduced in the digital libraries – which is being utilized by many rural kids.

Parents prefer Chess

Not only schools, parents of young children also see Chess as a very important life-skill. One of our proud parents mentioned in Google reviews:

I started with Saswath Academy for my son during the first lockdown. I was desperate to see him engaged and active during those tough times. I’m glad I took the right decision. The academy is very professional and well managed. They take great care and patience in engaging with the kids, all the faculties/coaches are knowledgeable and abreast of the latest teaching techniques; and best part is, they know how to handle kids. My 7 year son looks forward to his chess and coding classes every week. I just have one regret, I din’t have access to a class like this during my childhood

 

At Saswath Academy, we have been catering to over 1000+ students since 2020 and we have seen first-hand on how parents see the difference in their kids.  You may take a free demo class and see for yourself.

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