Chess in Schools - Our Global Future

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Contents

Chess in SchoolsOur Global Future

ROSNEFT

SPONSORED BY

CHESS IN SCHOOLS

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov........Chess as a Teaching Tool Educational Cutlery .......Mikhail Gorbachev Patron of Chess in Schools...........Fidel Castro Ruiz .........William Jefferson Clinton ............Benjamin Franklin ........H.E. Jacob Zuma .........Viswanathan Anand World Champion ..........

Educational Benefits of Chess ..........Social Benefits of Chess ...........Health Benefits of Chess ........CiS FIDE's Chess in Schools Commission ......Heads of State.......European Parliament ...Denmark ....France ....Trinidad & Tobago ....India ...Turkey USA

Chess & Education Conferences ..CiS Commission Meeting 2012 .CiS Training Seminars Conferences ..Research ...Rosneft Training Camps for Children ...CiS Promotion and Materials .Bibliography ..

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Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov, b. 1962President of FIDE 1995-

President of Kalmykia, Russian Federation 1993-2010Since the Republic of Kalmykia, Russian Federation

implemented chess in the curriculum ...children have shown a considerable improvement in their studies ...

17 years ago, I signed a decree to develop chess in the schools of Kalmykia.

100% of Kalmykia school children can play chess. This has played well for their school results.According to the Russian Ministry of Education, for the last two years we have been keeping 1st

place in school results of children among 85 Russian regions. Andrey Fursenko, Russian Minister ofEducation became interested in our phenomenon and sent specialists to Kalmykia to find out the

key to this success. They stated in the end, that it was the introduction of chess in schools that hadbrought such good results.

My main goal chess in every school and one billion chess players on the planet.

Gens Una Sumus(We are One Family)Our children are our future


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EDUCATIONAL CUTLERY

The plates of both children andteachers are full to overflowingwith content. How and why shouldschools find a place for chess?

Schools and educators need asimple and direct way to teachprocess standards (thinkingskills). It is important that thec o n t e n t s h o u l d n o t k e e pexpanding every day. The mainchallenge for children should be toexplore and develop the way thatwe think. If it could be fun as well,that would be ideal.

Chess provides the perfecteducational cutlery or chopsticksto achieve that.

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CHESS AS A TEACHING TOOL

Chess has all the qualities needed to be anexcellent teaching tool.

For maximum benefit, it should be introduced inschools not to develop chess players but tofurther a child's development.

Chess can be used to solve educationalproblems, especially when used to teach

process standards, the 'thinking skills.'

Chess used, not for the sake of teaching chess,not to create better chess players, but to createmore intelligent school leavers, better adaptedto our knowledge-based world; a brighter futurefor our global society.

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Mikhail Gorbachev, b. 1931Honorary Patron of Chess in Schools4

When I was young, I used to like this game, butthen politics has not left any space for other

things, chess included. This wonderful game isa real feast of intellect and great achievement of

our mankind.

M. Gorbachev with Women WorldChampion Hou Yifan


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In today's global community we all areconnected by millions of invisible threads. Asnever before, we all depend one on another.However, still there are many things which

keep countries and nations apart, the conflictswhich are left from the past or recent ones. Wehave not learnt so far the way we should live in

this global community.

Therefore it is even more important to cherishthe things which unite us and bring us together,the things which cause interest and attention of

millions of the people and make them morenoble and can be passed as a tradition from

one generation to another. During manycenturies chess is a part of human heritage

and the names of great chess players ofvarious epochs have become part and parcel

of the history of this game, and history of greatachievements of a human mind.

It is a special pleasure for me that mycountry, Russia, is one of the leaders ofworld chess. The traditions of Alexander

Alekhine, Mikhail Botvinnik, Elisaveta Bykova

and other champions are continued in thegames of younger generation. I am very gladthat following the invitation of Kirsan

Ilyumzhinov, I could become a patron of theChess in Schools movement.

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Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz , b.1926idel Alejandro Castro Ruz , b.1926President of Cuba 1976-2008President of Cuba 1976-2008Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, b.1926President of Cuba 1976-2008El ajedrez debe formar parte delprograma escolar."

'Chess ought to be a part of theschool curriculum'

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Playing chess helps studentsdevelop thinking and analyzing skills,concentration, greater self-control

and self-confidence ...We have hard evidence that chess

in the schools works.

William Jefferson Clinton, b. 1946,42nd U.S. President.

He played for the Georgetown Universitychess team in 1968.

He is a supporter of theChess-in-the-Schools programme.

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In his article, The Morals of Chess, published in 1786,Franklin was perhaps the first to link chess and education,

writing that life is a kind of chess and that by playing chess,we may learn foresight, circumspection and caution and also

the habit of not being discouraged by present badappearances in the state of our affairs ... persevering

in the search of resources.

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Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)A Founding Father of the United States


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His Excellency Jacob Zuma, b.1942President of South Africa 2009-

In summary, the benefits that accumulatefrom the teaching and promotion of chess

in schools include the following:

.The game teaches patience. You haveto give the opponent time and space tothink and make his or her own move.

.It teaches that a decision must be anoutcome of a serious thought process.

.Chess teaches discipline, for exampleas chess players would know, touch is

a move. When you touch, you mustmove,you have to be disciplined.

.Chess teaches fairness. You alert the opponent before you strike,and keep them informed of your moves and intentions.

the main benefit [of chess] being that it contributes to the

development ofstrategic thinking as well as concentration,analytical skillsand problem solving.

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I have always said that chess shouldbe promotedat the school level, so thatwe have many more young players readyto take the game forward! And it is reallysatisfying that my home state has taken

this step, which will go a long way intaking chess to a higher level in India.

I really want to thank Chief MinisterJ Jayalalithaa for taking this decision,which ought to be emulated by otherstates. States like Gujarat are alreadypromoting chess at school level and ithas started showing results. But, whensomething is made compulsory, peopleg e n e r a l l y t e n d t o b a l k a t i t . . .

Viswanathan Anand,b.1969

World Chess Champion 2000-2002 & 2007-

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"The strategies from the game of chess canbe used effectively and innovatively to createthe great leaders tomorrow."


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I think school kids won't baulk atchess.

Introduce themto this game and theywill

take to it like fish taking to water!Just like sports in schools are

compulsoryand kids love it, similarly, they willacquire a taste for this game soon

enough. And Ifeel Indian kids have an aptitude for

thismind game.

I know this because I've beenpromoting the game amongst theyoungsters for long. Speaking to

TheTimes of India in January 2012 about

theintroductionof chess as part of the

curriculum in Tamil Nadu.

WORLD CHESSFEDERATION


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The educational benefits of chess are many and varied.

They are well documented by a large body of research papers from

around the world. There is so much evidence, that it is easy to missthe wood for the trees, therefore this document is intentionally brief.

If detailed evidence is required, please refer to the sources andlinks in the Bibliography.

Chess helps promote intellectual growth and has beenshown to improveacademic performance.

Chess is a powerful tool for developing thinking and memory in children.It teaches children to think analytically, logically and on more than one level.It also helps them build up their decision-making tools. It educates them tobe responsible for their decisions and the consequences of those decisions.

EDUCATIONALBENEFITS OF CHESSDUCATIONALBENEFITS OF CHESSEDUCATIONALBENEFITS OF CHESS

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The most frequently cited general benefits include the development of:

*Cognitive abilities, such as attention, memory, and logical thinking;essential skills for the development of the individual.

*Increased creativity, through problem solving.

*Critical thinking is developed, improving the ability to assessstrengths and weaknesses, establish value judgments and

make decisions.

*Ethical sense. Improvements in attitudeand general behaviour

are often noted.

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Ministries of Education around the world have been convinced. Among the more notable

developments have been those in China, Denmark, France, India, Russia, Turkey,

the United States and Venezuela.

Better results in mathematics and improvements in literacy.

*Focusing - Children are taught the benefits of observing carefully and concentrating. If theydon't watch what is happening, they can't respond to it, no matter how smart they are.

*Visualizing - Children are prompted to imagine a sequence of actions before it happens. Weactually strengthen the ability to visualize by training them to shift the pieces in their mind, first

one, then several moves ahead.

*Thinking Ahead - Children are taught to think first, then act. They learn to ask themselves 'If Ido this, what might happen then, and how can I respond?' Over time, chess helps developpatience and thoughtfulness.

*Weighing Options - Children are taught that they don't have to do the first thing that pops intotheir mind. They learn to identify alternatives and consider the pros and cons of various actions.

*Analysing Concretely - Children learn to evaluate the results of specific actions and sequences.

Does this sequence help me or hurt me? Decisions are better when guided by logic, rather thanimpulse.

*Thinking Abstractly - Children are taught to step back periodically from details and consider thebigger picture. They also learn to take patterns used in one context and apply them to different,but related situations.

*Planning - Children are taught to develop longer range goals and take steps towards bringingthem about. They are also taught of the need to re-evaluate their plans as new developmentschange the situation.

*Juggling Multiple Considerations Simultaneously - Children are encouraged not to becomeoverly absorbed in any one consideration, but to try to weigh various factors all at once.

Ministries of Education around the world have been convinced. Among the more notabledevelopments have been those in China, Denmark, France, India, Russia, Turkey, the UnitedStates and Venezuela.

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Specific benefits that are oftenmentioned include:

WORLD CHESSFEDERATION


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SOCIAL BENEFITS

Closely allied to the educational

benefits, these include:

reduced delinquency reduced drug use improved ethical sense improved discipline improved sense of fairness integration of minorities improved social mobility

Reductions in delinquency and in drug use have been noted particularly by the Chess-in-the-

Schools programme (mostly in The Bronx and Harlem) and by Orrin Hudson's Be

Someone programme, with its emphasis on learning life lessons, both in the USA.

RESEARCH

A 2005 study, sponsored by the Scottish Executive Education Department, concluded thatthe group of pupils who participated in 'chess coaching' stood out on improvements in'social adjustment'.

MINORITIES

Two projects in Denmark have the goal of creating lasting change and improvement in the lives

of youngsters with a minority background or who live in the ghetto.

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al change.

PRISONS

President Zuma spoke of chess

teaching discipline and fairness.

Both of these benefits have also

been noted in work with prison

inmates (see, for example, the work

carried out in Almeria, Spain).

Professor Moura Netto has written

about the work being done with

inmates, a partnership between

Santa Maria de Jetib municipality

and the Esprito Santo StateSecretary of Justice. An inspirational

video, Chess that Brings Freedom,

outlining this work, can be seen on

the CiS web site:

http://cis.fide.com/en/chess-

news/141-xadrez-chess-that-brings-

freedom.

Chess, FIDE and the Brazilian Social

Project "Chess that brings Freedom"

created by Brazilian Educator

Charles Moura Netto, a member of

FIDE's CiS Commission, was the

first among three prize winners of

the important "Spirit of Sport" Award.

The announcement of the prize was

made during the SportAccordConvention in Quebec, Canada on

the 24th of May 2012.

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SCHOOLS

Schools chess programmes in manycountries have reported improvements inattitude and general behaviour (ethicalsense). In the schools, chess often serves asa bridge, bringing together children of differentages, races and genders in an activity they

can all enjoy.

Chess helps build individual friendships andalso school spirit when children competetogether as teams against other schools.Chess a lso teaches ch i ld ren aboutsportsmanship - how to win graciously and notgive up when encountering defeat.

For children with adjustment issues, there aremany examples where chess has led toincreased motivation, improved behaviour,

better self-image, and even improvedattendance. Chess provides a positive socialoutlet, a wholesome recreational activity thatcan be easily learned and enjoyed at any age.

TESTIMONIALS

The effects have been remarkable," Brownsays. "Not only have the reading and mathskills of these children soared, their ability tosocialize has increased substantially, too. Ourstudies have shown that incidents ofsuspension and outside altercations havedecreased by at least 60% since thesechildren became interested in chess." JoyceBrown, an assistant principal and supervisor -Rober to Clemente school ' s Spec ia lEducation department - NY.

Whenever we get a child transferred fromanother school who may have maladaptivebehavior, our principal suggests chess as away of helping him find his niche. Jerome

Fishman, Guidance Counselor, C.J.H.S 231,Queens, NY.

Chess has a reputation as a catalyst of socialmobility. For me (Kevin O'Connell) it was a

case of "seeing is believing." In 1988 a ten-year-old boy I was coaching was functionallyilliterate. His family had a very low income,they lived in social housing and he attendedthe local "sink" school. His future was notbright, but he loved chess and wanted to playin tournaments, so he needed to be able tonotate his games. He wanted to push for a

place in the National Junior Squad, so heneeded to read chess literature. Therefore, hetaught himself to read and write. His schoolwork improved so much that he gained a placeat the best secondary school in the area. Thelast I heard, he had passed his final schoolexams with flying colours and was off touniversity.



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HEALTH BENEFITSAn increasing amount of attention isbeing paid to the health benefits ofchess. These are mostly quite recentdiscoveries and point to the greatvalue of learning chess duringchildhood since it seems to conferhealth benefits almost from the cradlet o t h e g r a v e . T h e y c a n b esummarized as:

Chess leads to an improvement incognitive functioning and has beencited as a significant tool in the fightagainst Alzheimer's.

Chess can help patients who havesuffered from stroke to recover.

Chess assists recovery in peoplesuffering from physical and emotional

disability.Chess helps to prevent anxiety anddepression by encouraging selfimprovement, improving self esteemand self confidence. By contrast,excessive time spent on activitiesthat do not challenge the brain,particularly watching television, hasbeen l inked to an inc reasedincidence of depression.

Chess (as recreational therapy)

helps prevent or reduce non-adaptiveor inappropriate behaviour.

It has long been known that chessimproves at tent ion, memory,organization skills and perception. Itimproves the ability of cognitive-impaired individuals to work onissues related to orientation, sensorystimulation and environmental

awareness.

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ALZHEIMER'S DISEASESome aspects of age-related cognitivedecline begin in healthy educated adultswhen they are in their 20s and 30s (Salthouse2009). These declines may seem relativelyminor compared with problems that mayappear later in life such as Alzheimer'sdisease and dementia, but just as it's nevertoo early to adopt a healthy lifestyle, it makessense to take care of our brains now ratherthan waiting until there has been a seriousdecline.Most attention is being paid to the value ofchess in the fight against Alzheimer's which

blights the lives of 35 million people and theirfamilies.

VALENCIA, SPAINIn 2006 a team from Valencia UniversityHospital, led by Dr. Jos Miguel Lainez Andrs,reported some very impressive resultsconcerning the value of chess as anintervention therapy against cognitive decline.The authors pointed out that chess is acomplete mental training; in addition to sportsand psychological factors, the player is forcedto be highly accurate in this complex andelaborate mental process. The object of thestudy was to examine whether the mental

exercise performed during the learning andpractice of chess has an impact on improvingthe performance of some cognitive abilities inolder subjects.Their hypothesis was that "Learning to playchess at the cognitive level is beneficial in older

people".The study population consisted of users ofspecialized centres for the care of the elderly infour locations around Spain. The chess groupattended a weekly chess class for sevenmonths, while the control group attended othercourses. Standard tests (including Raven'sMatrices, Stroop Test and others) were used toassess changes in cognitive abilities. The testswere performed both at the beginning and theend of the study period.The researchers discovered that, broadly

speaking, approximately two thirds of the entireexperimental group of subjects experienced animprovement in neuropsychological testperformance, usually progressive.



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Research among those over the age of 60strongly suggests that chess is valuablein combating Alzheimer's. A collaborativeFranco-Russian research effort beganrecently (December 2010) between theCentre Hospitalier Universitaire of Nice,led by Professor Philippe Robert and

Prof. Vladimir Zakharov's team from theMoscow State Medical University.Dr David Shenk, author of The Forgetting,the definitive work on Alzheimer's,commented on the value of chess as an

Alzheimer antidote in a 2006 interview:"You need to exercise your brain. Chessis a particularly good brain builder. It'squite easy to learn, but the possibilitiesare endless - you never run out of achallenge."

Asked when it is best to learn, heanswered "the earlier the better.Particularly for young kids, chess is like aStairmaster for logical thinking."The World Alzheimer Report 2010 statedthat dementia is significantly affectingevery health and social care system in theworld and costs of dementia are set tosoar. Estimated worldwide costs of

dement ia a re , accord ing to theAlzheimer's Association, US$604 billion.Prevention is better than cure andteaching chess in schools is a cheap wayto implement something of known valueto reduce those costs and greatly improvethe lives of those affected.

CHESS AS SPORTMens sana in corpore sanoChess was recognised as a sport by theInternational Olympic Committee in 1999.FIDE is a member of ARISF (Associationof IOC Recognised International SportsFederations), SportAccord and other

international sport organizations. Chessis an affiliate member, or fully recognizedby, National Olympic Committees in 115countries, and chess as a sport isrecognized in 105 countries. Thesenumbers are constantly being revisedupwards.

With 178 member federations, FIDE isamong the biggest sports organizationsin the world, very proud of over fortyofficial championships for youngsters,men, women and seniors.

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FIDE's Commission for Chess in Schools wasfounded in 1984. Initially, teaching chess in

schools was regarded as a way of creating cluband tournament players, who would join their

national chess federations. The schools were to bethe source of future masters, grandmasters and

champions.

Gradually, the focus shifted towards using chessas a useful tool, helping children learn other

subjects, to better prepare them for their future life.That has been especially true in the last five or sixyears. The proof of the change can be seen in the

vision of the Commission Chairman and hisimplementation of that vision within Turkey.

The Commission's web site (cis.fide.com) is animportant source of information for anyone with aninterest in chess in schools. It provides support forthe enormous efforts of the FIDE President in his

role as a global ambassador.

The Commission, and FIDE as a whole, isimmensely proud to have our new Honorary

Patron. Mikhail Gorbachev accepted that positionat the end of September 2011.

Mikhail Gorbachev became Honorary Patronikhail Gorbachev became Honorary Patronof Chess in Schools in 2011.f Chess in Schools in 2011.Mikhail Gorbachev became Honorary Patronof Chess in Schools in 2011.CiS FIDE's CHESS IN SCHOOLS COMMISSION

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HEADS OF STATEMany heads of state are supportive of chess in general andchess in schools in particular. We know that most, if not allof them play chess themselves, even if only occasionally. Anumber have already been featured, here are some more.

HRH Queen Elizabeth II with President Zuma and a South Africanchess set presented to her by Nelson Mandela.

Queen Elizabeth I reportedly loved chess. In more modern times,Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V and King Edward

VIII all played regularly.

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President Obamamentions chess

in his autobiography.Michelle Obama also plays.

Several were strong players,US Presidents

especially Jefferson, Hayes and Garfield.

Several also collected chess sets and some

Presidents who we do not know played chess

had sets, including Dwight D. Eisenhower and

John F. Kennedy.

Gerald Ford may not have been a chessplayer, but he did declare October 9th, 1976,

National Chess Day.

President VladimirPutingreets ChampionAnand and challengerGelfand after the 2012

match in Moscow.Mr. Putin has

expressed great interestin FIDE's Chess in

Schoolsprogramme. In

2006 heinstructed

theMinistry ofEducationto support

thisprogram

me inRussia.

Many US Presidents have played chess,including at least John Adams, Thomas

Jefferson, James Madison, JamesMonroe, John Quincy Adams, Abraham

Lincoln, Ulysses S Grant, RutherfordHayes, James Garfield, Grover

Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, WilliamHoward Taft, Woodrow Wilson, WarrenHarding, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and

Barack Obama.

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EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTUROPEAN PARLIAMENTUROPEAN PARLIAMENTOn 13 March 2012, Mr Martin Schulz,Pres ident o f the EU Par l iamentannounced that the Written Declaration50/2011 had been endorsed 415members had added their endorsement,far exceeding the 369 needed.

A. whereas the Treaty on the Functioningof the European Union, in Article 6

provides that sport is among the areas,'where the Union shall have competencesto carry out actions to support, coordinateor supplement the actions of the MemberStates'.

B.whereas chess could help socialcohesion and could contribute to policyobjectives, such as social integration,combating discrimination, reducing crimerates and even f ight with various

addictions;

C. whereas no matter of the age of thechi ld, chess can improve his/herconcentration, patience and persistence,and can develop sense of creativity,intuition and memory of the children;

D. whereas, chess helps the developmentof children's ability to analyze, to takedifficult decisions, and to flexibly solveproblems; it teaches determination,motivation and sportsmanship;

E. whereas, chess is accessible sport forchildren from every social group, whichdoes not require financial resources forinfrastructure and organization,

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1. Calls on the EuropeanCommission and the Member

States to encourage the

introduction of the program 'Chessin School' in the educationalsystems of the EU Member

States;

2. Calls on the Member States toensure adequate funding for thesport, without using significant

budgetary cuts, even in times offinancial crisis;

3. Calls on the EuropeanCommission in its forthcomingCommunication on Sport to payproper attention to the program'Chess in School' and to ensuresufficient funding for it from 2012

onwards;

4. Calls on the Commission totake into consideration the resultsof the studies on the effect of the

program on children'sdevelopment;

5. Instructs its President toforward this declaration, togetherwith the names of the signatories,

to the Commission and theParliaments of the Member States

The full text is available inthe Documents section ofour Chess in Schools web

site (cis.fide.com).

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Two projects in Denmark have the goal of

creating lasting change and improvement inthe lives of youngsters with a minoritybackground or who live in deprived areas.Bring Minorities in Games (BMIS) is a 3-yearsocial project in Aarhus and Copenhagen. Inpartnership with the Ministry of Social Affairsand Aarhus Municipality, Dansk Skoleskakuses school chess clubs not only as agateway to community activities for thechildren and their parents but also as a

stepping stone towards involvement in otherkinds of social activities such as sports andvoluntary social work.Skoleskak The Right Move! is based onexperience from the U.S. Chess-in-the-Schools social projects in New York and theDansk Skoleskak's ongoing project BringM ino r i t i es I n Games (BMIS B r ingMinoriteterne i Spil).The Right Move! has two main objectives:

To develop a model for collaboration

between housing organizations and schoolsas part of a holistic approach whereby chessin school contributes to new collaborations.Thus the intention is that housing areachildren and adults are contributors to chessin school act iv i t ies. This enhancescitizenship and creates empowerment forboth young and old.

To enhance young people's learningand social development as a contribution toeducation and healthy life through activeparticipation in schools chess. In this way it isan important carrier of Danish culturalvalues.Three municipalities, six schools and 2000children and young people have beeninvolved in the project over a 4-year period.Students participate in the 8-week chess inschool courses.

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Bring Minorities in Games hashad a still wider reach. The project

involves 4,500 students, 250school teachers in Aarhus andCopenhagen. Chess is used as atool in education and after school,to strengthen the participatingchildren and young people'ssocial and intellectual skills. BMISsigni f icant ly increases thestudents' connection with thevoluntary sector, while alsoenhanc ing the i r un iversa llearning skills. It is a project thathelps prevent social problems, atthe same time tackling lack ofintegration and reducing specialeducation needs.Denmark and the United Stateslead the way with such socialprogrammes.


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The French Ministry of Education recognizes theeducational and social benefits of chess in schools.

The Ministry first signed a convention with the

FrenchChess Federation in 2007. In 2011 it was renewed,to run until 2014.

In January of 2012, the Ministry of issued animportant notice to all education authorities in thecountry. This was an article in the "Bulletin officiel"

(No.3 of 2012, 19 January). It relates to theintroduction of chess in schools. The scheme is

being piloted nationally.

Here is a translation of perhaps the most importantpart of the text: The plan for science and technology

in schools expects teachers to use traditionalgames, such as chess, which helps the

development of pupils' motivation and concentration,and encourages an independence of mind. Teacherswill soon receive a guide about how to use chess as

an educational tool...

The Ministry is working hard to develop this initiative

and has devoted a section of its duscol web site(the Ministry's gateway for education professionals)to chess and its introduction into schools. The

Ministry's objectives, as stated on that site: develop the motivation and the

concentration of students; encourage a spirit of independence and

initiative in the students; provide an environment conducive to

learning; contribute to the development of intellectual

attitudes and skills conducive to acquiring thecommon core skills, including "math and scienceliteracy" and "autonomy and initiative";promote

citizenship learning.

FRANCE

Chess in primary school (7-10)

ChessinCollge(11-14)

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INDIANIIT Mind Champions' Academy, a joint non-profitinitiative between Grand Master ViswanathanAnand and NIIT Ltd., promotes Chess in schoolsacross India. The Academy has so far reached

more than 10,000 schools and about 1,000,000students. Chess inculcates the critical skills oflogical thinking and analysis amongst children andmoulds them into true champions. The positiveeffects of chess on the behaviour and academicperformance of students is well documented.

NIIT Mind Champions' Academy introducesstudents in the age group of 7 - 17 years to the worldof Chess. It motivates them to develop their chessskills continuously thereby improving other aspects

of their personality too. The initiative consists of: Formation of chess clubs in schools Chess coaching Chess playing Empowering young minds towardsmaking a positive impact on behaviour andacademic achievement.

Recent studies and surveys amongst students haveshown that chess playing improves behaviouraltraits as well as academic performance. It honestheir problem solving and decision making skillswhile also inculcating patience and concentration.Students also tended to be more confident,developed self regulated learning and displayed

greater motivation to perform in academicdisciplines.

A Pan-India study (11,000 students) on the impact ofthis programme on children - 'Developing MindChampions through Chess', showed that playingchess regularly has led to behavioural improvementas well as improvement in academic performance.The study also showed that students who regularlyplay chess have developed self-regulated learning,better concentration, problem solving and decisionmaking skills. Also, in response to an online survey,over 6000 children have mentioned that chess hashelped them to perform better in science andmathematics. Students also mentioned that theyhave developed patience.

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31SEMINARSIndian States are beginning toi n t r o d u c e c h e s s t o t h e

curriculum. Gujarat was the firstState to do so. Tamil Nadu isbeginning to implement a hugescheme, introducing chess intoevery school in the state and ate v e r y a g e l e v e l , 7 - 1 7 .Maharashtra also now has apilot scheme and looks to followin the footsteps of the others.

The huge task facing TamilNadu i s t o t r a i n enoughschoolteachers to implementthe plan. Most of the teachersc o n c e r n e d a r e p h y s i c a leducation teachers with noknowledge of chess.

The very first CiS TrainingSeminar took place in Chennai,capital of Tamil Nadu. All 26

participants gained the SchoolInstructor title and 22 of themqualified to train the teachers.Each one of them can train 100teachers a month and three arequalified to train still moreteacher trainers.

The Chennai seminar wasimmediately followed by twomore: New Delhi and Jalgaon(Maharashtra), with another 52trainees, of whom all but fourq u a l i f i e d f o r t h e S c h o o lInstructor title and 31 qualifiedas trainers of teachers.


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TURKEY

The official protocol wassigned on the 2nd of June.The project went full steamahead immediately;it had to if they were to havea presence in classrooms atthe beginning of the schoolyear in the autumn.

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Ali Nihat Yazici was elected President of the TurkishChess Federation (TSF) a few days after the closing

ceremony of the Istanbul Chess Olympiad in 2000. Heinherited a small federation of about 300 members and a

budget to match. By 2002, Ali and his small teamsucceeded in growing TSF membership more than 20-

fold! Then he got an appointment to meet the Minister ofEducation. He told the Minister that the TSF wanted tomake chess an elective course in all primary schools.The Minister asked Why? and Ali replied that it was

because they wanted chess champions like Kasparovand Karpov to emerge from Turkish schools. The

Minister's response was: Go to the Sports Ministry!

Everyone makes mistakes. The clever thing is to learnfrom them.

Three years passed. The TSF was apparentlydeveloping nicely, more than trebling membership againto 24,000. A new Minister, a retired Associate Professor,

Dr. Hseyin Celik, had arrived at the Ministry ofEducation in 2003. In 2005, Ali fluked a meeting with him

and told the man, just like his predecessor, that hewanted to make chess an elective course in all primary

schools. He got the same initial response: Why?Chess players rarely repeat losing variations, and Ali

had done his homework on a new variation, telling thisMinister that it was because he wanted Turkish childrento become more intelligent.

The opening was followed up with a strong middle gameplan. Ali gave him a short brief, explaining the

educational and social benefits of chess and how all thiscould be achieved. Even so, the position did not look

promising BUT Next morning at 08:00, Ali's mobile rang - it was the

Minister "I want to see you in my office." At this meeting,the Minister joked that, as a politician he did not

necessarily want a more intelligent electorate, but said

that if the details in the brief were correct (and his staffwere checking them), then we have to start this project.

The Ministry was so keen, they wanted to make chess acompulsory part of the curriculum. The TSF refused.

For a start, it was simply not practical instantly to trainup 100,000 teachers or more to cater for 70,000

primary schools and 16,000,000 children. Second, andmost important, was the idea that chess should be funfor the children, something they choose to do and thatthe project would be more successful if chess was anelective subject.The official protocol was signed on the

2nd of June. The project went full steam ahead

immediately; it had to if they were to have a presence inclassrooms at the beginning of the school year in the

autumn.


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TEACHER/TRAINER NUMBERS

Dr. Olgun Kula, a member of the TSFEducation Committee, set to work writingthree books; a first year class book, af o l l o w - o n c l a s s b o o k a n d a naccompanying teacher's guide more

than 500 pages in all, and he had all ofthree months to do it, less the time neededfor book design and printing! FIDE SeniorTrainer Mikhail Gurevich undertook to trainup 100 trainers who would then train theteachers. From the announcement, on theTSF web site on June 5, of that trainingcourse in Ankara, a mere 25 days elapseduntil the 100 trainers were ready to beunleashed on the teachers in seminarsheld the length and breadth of the country.

There was no shortage of teacherapplicants, all wanting to go on this trainingcourse. The 100 trainers taught groups of30 or so teachers each week during thelate summer. The schoolteachers aretaught how to teach chess. Even thoughvery few of them are chess players, it isquite easy; for a start, they already knowhow to teach! It does not matter that theyare not strong players (or even not playersat all), you don't have to be an Einstein toteach physics in school, especially inprimary school.

By the time those courses were completed,at the end of September, some 10,000teachers had been trained in time for thestart of the academic year. The training hascontinued apace, and there are now morethan 50,000 certified teachers.

With all those teachers trained, it wasessential to have children clamouring to betaught, so a one minute TV commercial

was prepared. That was aired by the PublicBroadcasting Service, starting in August2005.

http://cis.f ide.com/en/videos/98-tsf-advertising

Just weeks later, that first batch of 10,000teachers was introducing chess to morethan half a million children.

Those teachers are only part of theequation; they could not do much chessteaching without materials. The other coreelement is the provision of 'chess

c l a s s r o o m s ' , c o n s i s t i n g o f ademonstration board, a bunch of

boards and sets, books for thechildren, and, of course, books forthe teachers, with the answersinside! Initially, the federation

provided a large quantity of these.



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The first contact came in July of2005, after the bank saw the newsthat chess was to be introduced to

the curriculum. At first, they wereinterested to print the books, inr e t u r n f o r i n c l u d i n g t h e i r advertising in them. However,that was not acceptable to theEducation Ministry. As time wenton, and the number of childreninvolved began to be clear, so thebank was happy to print thebooks, 250,000 of them, as part ofi t s s o c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t yprogramme.

The bank officially became theTSF's sponsor on 23 December2005. The following day, the bankannounced that it was ending itssponsorship of Turkish football(soccer).

Later, after a sponsor emerged, the sponsor tookresponsibility for these, installing 200 in 2007. 200 maynot sound much, but the number doubled in 2008, andeach subsequent year (although it's running a bit behindthis year 2011). Also, those classrooms are used bymult iple classes. [Some schools already hadequipment.]

Press coverage soon built up, averaging 15 columninches a day (almost 500 feet a year) with an enormous

reach (detailed figures are commercially sensitive). Bythe end of the year, chess in schools was making itsimpact felt all over the country, so it was not really amiracle when a major sponsor appeared.

Here you can see the benefit of big numbers. It wasthose numbers that attracted Turkiye Is Bankasi (Bankof Turkey), the largest bank not only in Turkey, but inEastern Europe and maybe in the Middle East. The bankapproached the TSF - not the other way around! Half amillion children equals about three million people when

you add in parents and grandparents, almost all of themconsumers and voters. The children themselves are allpotentially future customers of the bank.

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Chess has gone on to become the biggest sport inTurkey, and the bank now sponsors the TSF to thetune of well over 1,000,000. The bank is very

happy with the arrangement and worked with theTSF on producing an annual TV advertisement,but in 2009, the TSF got a surprise The bankproduced this advertisement as a 'surprisepresent' for the federation.

http://cis.fide.com/en/videos/101-cis-advertising-2009-turkey

The Ministry wants to see EVERY school with achess classroom and there is a strong demand

from schools. Teachers are applying at the rate of30-60 per day. A cycle of renovation of the existingchess classrooms has begun. This is a projectwithout end.


Ali Nihat Yazici is a FIDE Vice

President and Chairman of FIDE'sChess in Schools Commission (CiS).

The project has no end and it continues to evolve. The TSF now has more than 200,000 activemembers, 80% of them children. The TSF is about to launch a new promotion, based on our latestideas for Student Membership, with posters going out to every one of the 100,000 schools in Turkeyand this is sure to increase the number of children electing to take the chess course.


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USA

The majority of the initiatives in the USA areundertaken by private individuals and non-profitorganizations. It is extremely difficult for the U.S. ChessFederation to influence chess education nationallybecause the control of education is devolved to localboards of education. However, one State has enactedlegislation:

NEW JERSEY

The Legislature finds and declares that:

chess increases strategic thinking skills, stimulatesintellectual creativity, and improves problem-solving ability, while raising self-esteem;

when youngsters play chess they must call uponhigher-order thinking skills, analyze actions andconsequences, and visualize future possibilities;

in countries where chess is offered widely in schools,students exhibit excellence in the ability to recognizecomplex patterns and consequently excel in mathand science;

and instruction in chess during the second grade willenable pupils to learn skills which will serve themthroughout their lives.

An ac t concern ing inst ruct ion in chess andsupplementing Chapter 35 of Title 18A of the NewJersey Statutes.

USA36


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CHESS-IN-THE-SCHOOLSThe New York not-for-profit organization Chess-in-the-Schools does great work in that

city, especially among the underprivileged children.Noted for its achievements in raising educational standards and improving socializationin inner-city schools in the Bronx and in Harlem, Chess-in-the-Schools has an annualbudget of more than $3,000,000. They currently bring chess to 13,000 students in 50

schools throughout New York City.Every child in the classes concerned is included, it is not an elective program.

Some of those achievements have givenrise to popular movies. The first was Knightso f t he South Bronx (2005) abou tschoolteacher David MacEnulty and hischess team of underprivileged children.MacEnulty showed that chess confers a setof mind skills that enable children to facereal life challenges. The team triumphed,against all the odds, beating teams fromprivate schools across the country.

In 2012, Brooklyn Castle was released. It isthe improbable story of I.S.318 in Brooklyn.

Almost two thirds of the students are fromfamilies living below the poverty line. Lastyear, this Middle School of under-14s were

runners-up in the US National High School(under-18) Championships. This year, theybecame the first Middle School ever to winthe event.

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CHESS & EDUCATIONCONFERENCES

A very important conferenceChess and Education tookplace in Istanbul on the 30th of

August 2012.

This initiative, sponsored byRosneft, the global sponsor ofFIDE Chess in Schools, will befollowed by a series of suchconferences in the future.

The conference was opened by

F I D E P r e s i d e n t K i r s a nIlyumzhinov who addressed thecapacity audience with hisspeech on the enormousimportance of teaching childrento play chess and the interest ofMinisters of Education in variouscountr ies in the Chess inSchools movement.

The chairman of CiS, Ali Nihat

Yazici , took the f loor andwelcomed everybody to theconference.

The keynote presentat ionChess as a Sport rounded offthe opening session. It was givenby Professor Dr. Caner Aikada,Dean of the School of SportScience, Hacettepe University,

Ankara.

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A c o o p e r a t i o n A g r e e m e n tbetween Ministry of Education of

t h e R e p u b l i c o f L e b a n o n ,Lebanese Chess Federation (withits President Nabil Bader) andFIDE was signed, namely byMinister of Education of theRepublic of Lebanon Hassan B.Diab and FIDE President KirsanIlyumzhinov.

The conference continued with theemphasis laid on Chess in Schools

from the viewpoint of FIDE'snational federations, especially inthe light of our CiS100 Projects inSlovakia and Slovenia.

The af ternoon sess ion hadpresentations by two importantspeakers from Italy and India.

Alessandro Dominici's Victor'sHouse is a method of teaching

chess to very young childrenwithout the need to train teachers.Malola Prasath discussed ideas forinclusive classroom teaching,especially in classes with both blindand sighted players. He alsodiscussed the results of researchinto the educational benefits thathave resulted from the NIIT Anandproject.

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CiS COMMISSION MEETING2012

The CiS Commission meeting at the2012 FIDE Congress had theh i g h e s t a t t e n d a n c e o f a n ycommission.

Reports and presentations weremade by representat ives o f

Andorra, Argentina, Bahamas,India, Italy, Russia and Sweden.Wide-ranging discussions enableda n e x c e l l e n t e x c h a n g e o f information, helping to developknowledge of current best practice.

Chess in higher education has notpreviously had a home and littleattention was paid to it. That hasnow come under the wing of the CiSCommission. There was muchdiscussion on the subject and Prof.

Aikada now heads a Higher

E d u c a t i o n R e s e a r c h s u b -committee.

Spanish chess journalist LeontxoG a r c i a g a v e a n e x c e l l e n tpresentation of Chess: Best Gymfor the Mind with special emphasison chess as an ant idote to

Alzheimer's disease.

A l l t h e m a t e r i a l s f r o m t h eCommission meeting are to befound on the Commission's web sitehttp://cis.fide.com.

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Dr. Joe VergheseProfessor of Neurology


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CiS TRAINING SEMINARS

As FIDE's Chess in Schools program isrolled out around the world, it is veryi m p o r t a n t t h a t w e t r a i n t h eschoolteachers who are going to teachthe children.

Training seminars, sponsored byRosneft, are being held in all partnercountries. These seminars are mostlyaimed at giving existing chess trainers thespecial skills and knowledge required sothat they can then train the teachers.

The first of these seminars were held inIndia and are being followed up withseminars in Ethiopia and Malawi, to equip

trainers from many African countries,including Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda,Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Further seminars are being arranged inAlgeria, Guernsey, Ireland, Jersey,Lebanon, Moldova, Peru and Trinidad &Tobago, with more to follow.Algeria, Slovakia and Slovenia havealready made a lot of progress in trainingthe schoolteachers, more than 1200 so

far. India, like Turkey, will soon be trainingthousands of schoolteachers each year.

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Concentration +50%

Reasoning +32%

RESEARCH

In order fully to appreciate the benefits of chess inschools, it is necessary to consult the detail in thereferences given in the bibliography, but here are a fewimpressive snippets.The following charts are from Michel Noir's work. Theycompare the scholastic test results of children who havehad the advantage of learning chess in school and thosewho have not.

CURRICULUMChess has a place in the school curriculum in someregions, if not all in the following countries:

NMM Andorra Armenia Austria BrazilBulgaria China Cyprus France GeorgiaGreece Hungary India Israel ItalyKyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lithuania MoldovaNetherlands Poland Romania Russia San MarinoSingapore Slovakia Slovenia Turkey Vietnam

The number will soon be increased. Those currentlyplanningto introduce chess to the curriculum includeAlgeria, Peru,Syria, Uruguay.

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FIDE's Chess in Schools program isorganizing training camps for childrenin countries around the world.

The first in what is expected to be along series of training days around theworld, sponsored by our globalsponsor Rosneft, took place inIsleworth, West London.The training day was free for under-11s who registered. Each traineereceived a free T-shirt and cap and gotto play in a simul against a master.

The second CiS Training Camp was inGeneva, supporting the introductionof Chess in Schools in Switzerland. Itwas attended by local authorities, cityprincipals, many teachers (whoparticipated in a seminar) and ofcourse a large number of children whoplayed in a specially organizedtournament. The plan for Geneva for2012-2013 is: 25 schools, 80 classes,1500 children and over 1200 hours of

school time for chess.

The third, in New York, just managedto beat Hur r icane Sandy andbenefited from a skilled face painter.

Rosneft Training Campsfor Children

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CiS Promotion

An important element in getting the message ofChess in Schools out to the national federationsand others around the world is our development ofpromotional material, such as this very book.Throughout the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul 2012,

we took advantage of the presence of thousandsof interested people from more than 150 of FIDE's177 federations, by setting up a CiS stand.

It was usually thronged with visitors, includingmany Grandmasters. There were representativesof national federations calling by to signagreements, to collect material or just to discussthe way forward for chess in schools in theircountry.

Rather than try to impose a one-size-fits-allversion of chess in schools, CiS endeavours totailor materials and development to best fit thecircumstances of each federation in each country.The CiS Handbook provides guidance tofederations setting up chess in schools projects.Our materials, in the form of boards, sets,demonstration wall boards and books for children,teachers and trainers, give them the wherewithalto develop those projects.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

An annotated bibliography of more than 300

references and studies can be found onFIDE's Chess in Schools web site cis.fide.com. It is, however, worth noting thebest overview of the field and a few of themost important ones.

Ferguson, Robert (2006), Chess andLearning: An Annotated Bibliography wascommissioned for the book of the 2001Dallas conference, itself an important work:Chess and Education: Selected Essays fromthe Koltanowski Conference, University ofDallas at Texas, 2006. Ferguson providesbrief notes about the contents of some 150English language works.

Christiaen (1976), Christiaen,J. andVerhoftadt-Denve,L. (1981), Chess andcognitive development. Piagetian tests,internal school aptitude tests and schoolresults used to evaluate outcome. The chessgroup outperformed the control group on alltests. The chess group had received one

hour of chess instruction per week for 42weeks (a year and a half).

Frank (1979), Frank,A. and D'Hondt,W.(1979), Frank,A. (1981), Apti tudes etapprentissage du jeu d'checs au Zaire.Twopsychometric tests were used for evaluation.The chess group performed better than thecontrol group on both 'numerical aptitude'and 'verbal ability.' The chess group met twohours per week for one year.

Liptrap, J. (1998), Chess and standard testscores. The Texas Assessment of AcademicSkills was used to evaluate the outcome ofthis large-scale study (567 students). Thechess group showed statisticallysignificant gains in reading andmathematicscompared withthe control group.

Both groups improved over atwoyear period, but thechess group's improvement

was approximately double that of thecontrol group. The chess group participatedin a school chess club for two years.

Ferguson,R. (1983), Ferguson,R. (1994),

Teaching the fourth "R" (Reasoning) throughchess. Tests used were the Watson-GlaserCTA and the Torrance test of creativethinking. The chess group significantlyoutperformed not only the control group butalso the computer group. Each group metonce a week for 32 weeks.

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Ferguson,R. (1986), Developing critical andcreative thinking through chess. A four-yearfederally funded study to identify which activitieswould augment critical and creative thinkingskills. Chess produced the greatest gains.

Ferguson,R. (1988), Development of Reasoningand Memory through Chess. The subtests for'memory' and 'verbal reasoning' from theCalifornia Achievement Test were used. Thechess group significantly outperformed thegeneral population on 'memory' and marginallyon 'verbal reasoning.' The chess group(complete beginners) received chess lessonstwo or three times a week (eight months).

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Margulies,S. (1992), Margulies,S.(1996), The effect of chess on readingscores. The chess group (mid-elementary school children in theSouth Bronx, New York) madesignificant improvements in readingscores compared with the controlgroups (national and school districtaverages). The chess group met fortwo years.

McDonald, Patrick (2006?), TheBenefits of Chess in Education, ACollection of Studies and Papers onChess and Education. A very useful

compilation of more than 20 papersand a guide to further resources.

Nash, Damian (2011), Making ChessAttract ive to Educators in theClassroom, A New Approach ToCurriculum. A curriculum model thatcan be used to teach higher orderthinking skills directly. Chess is theprimary visual metaphor but chessability is not the end product.

Moura Netto, Charles (2011), Chesst h a t B r i n g s F r e e d o m . T h i sinspirational program involves 2250prisoners in 22 Brazilian jails.

Noir, Michel (2002), Le Dveloppement deshabilets cognitives de l'enfant par la pratique dujeu d'checs. Noir's doctoral thesis (University ofLyon). An important source for background,information and research in France.

Parr, Teresa (2011), Exploring Why ChessWorks. An introduction to the 2011-2014 studyExploring the Malleability of Executive Controlfunded ($1,049,094) by the U.S. Department ofEducation that will test the hypothesis that chessimproves performance in a broad range ofacademic subjects. A preliminary report isexpected in the autumn of 2012.

Romano, Barbara (2012), Does Playing Chess

Improve Math Learning? Promising (AndInexpensive) Results From Italy. Yes, it does isthe conclusion, especially if the child is foreignborn or living in the disadvantaged South of Italy.

Root, Alexey W. (2006), Children and Chess: AGuide for Educators, Teacher Ideas Press,Libraries Unlimited, Westport CT. One of the firstbooks to show the connection between acceptededucational theories and chess. It includeslesson plans teachers can use, and from which

they can learn the basics of the game. Since theplans meet academic goals through chess,teachers also learn that chess can be a part ofreading, mathematics, science and socialstudies. An appendix shows how chess meets therequirements of curriculum standards.

Trinchero, Roberto (2012), Chess as a cognitivetraining ground. Six years of trials in primaryschools. This document presents the results ofsix years (from 2005 to 2011) of trials in primaryschools of different chess training strategies anda study of the relationship between chess trainingand improved skills and abilities of children. Theresults, in line with other studies, demonstratedseveral benefits (see also Romano above).

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H.E. Nelson Mandela

It always seems impossible,until it is done.

FIDE Chess in Schools

Learning is a lifelong experience

Address to NIIT University,

12 November 2011,where he insisted that theconcept of "world as one family"

is the only way to go forward,which echoes FIDE's

motto of Gens Una Sumus.

Dr Karan SinghIndian Ambassador to

UNESCOChancellor of NIIT University


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FIDE Secretariat

Chess in Schools - Our Global Future

Documents

Transcript of Chess in Schools - Our Global Future