Should Chess Be Taught In School

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Chess, the Royal Game, is one of the oldest and most mentally challenging games there is. The benefits of playing chess range from increased problem-solving skills and even helping to prevent Alzheimer's disease. There are many academic and social benefits that it provides for children, which is why chess should be taught in school. It wouldn’t be a required class, but rather an optional elective class for students who want to take it. Chess should be taught in school because it improves concentration and memory, enhances reading and math skills, and creates an opportunity for students to socialize. Chess should be taught in school because it improves concentration and memory. From my experience coaching, I have seen middle schoolers who can barely concentrate for five minutes, eventually develop into players who can sit down for chess games that last an hour. “According to studies done at the University of Memphis, playing chess significantly improves children’s visual memory, attention span, and spatial-reasoning ability” (Reiner). Therefore, incorporating chess into the curriculum would help students pay attention in school. …show more content…

There is much evidence for a correlation between young children playing chess and an improved ability in school subjects. For example, “in a Texas study, regular (non-honours) elementary students who participated in a school chess club showed twice the improvement of non-chess players in Reading and Mathematics between third and fifth grades on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills” (Patrick). So, if chess were to be implemented as an elective class, most students would probably see improvement in their important core

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