Artwork by Mike Magnan
Should chess be taught in school?
10 May 2011 Last updated at 05:40 ET Help It is an ancient game which was once used to teach young knights and princes about military strategy.
But should every child in Britain be expected to learn chess, while they are still at primary school?
There is growing support for the idea of putting the game on the national curriculum.
Tim Muffett reports from a primary school in Birmingham.
Watch the video report here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13343943
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
Definitely.
While I certainly agree that Chess can help many cognitive functions..I’m not so sure about forcing it on anyone. Having something shoved down your throat is not the same thing as willingly accepting it. (And I personally think that’s important.) I love the game…but I chose to love it.
No. There are much more vital things children should pursue. Also, only English should be taught in schools, no other languages, and I mean in every country in the world, English should be the world-wide language. There are too many irrelevant things taking up children’s time. Musical instruments and ballet and suchlike should not take up all the hours they do. Teaching all these things amounts to child abuse.
No. Chess is just a game!
Far, far too much education time is wasted on sports and games and other unproductive waste of time stuff such as Shakespeare, drama and biased history.
REAL skills that can be used in a productive workplace or to set up a business are hardly taught at all.
And then the government wonders why it has a stubborn unemployment problem!! Should be obvious I would have thought – churning people out of the education system with no REAL skills makes them unemployable apart from the most basic work.
Chess has many benefits and should be given a chance, even if only to enhance the life experience of kids from an early age; it is after all how the Polgar sisters were created, and other world champions too.
On a different note, love this site, it regularly updated – I only watched this article on BBC yesterday morning and there is even another post in response. Well done Susan et al for keeping the site updated.
Children have a natural propensity for the acquisition of language and the earlier the child learns a new language the easier it picks it up.
Chess more than anything, is a language.
Teaching reading and writing is difficult because of all the symbols that need to be learned and then the rules needed to be known as to how the symbols interact.
It is a very similar situation teaching mathematics.
At first sight in comparison, chess seems simple, 6 symbols (pawn Rook Knight Bishop and Queen and King) a few rules , the point of the game and 64 squares is far easier than to teach first, than the other things an educated citizen needs to know to be able to effectively interact with other citizens.
Teaching requires the ability to impart the skill of symbol manipulation, chess facititates this.
All chess players know that chess is a very long way from being simple.
The clever bit happens when the youngster works out that s/he will win many games if they know how to open, learning openings is a microcosm of learing in general, learning openings is learning the ‘lore’ of chess, just as in the same way, learning latin and Shakespeare is learning the ‘lore’ of English.
Children have a natural propensity for the acquisition of language and the earlier the child learns a new language the easier it picks it up.
Chess more than anything, is a language.
Teaching reading and writing is difficult because of all the symbols that need to be learned and then the rules needed to be known as to how the symbols interact.
It is a very similar situation teaching mathematics.
At first sight in comparison, chess seems simple, 6 symbols (pawn, Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen and King) a few rules , the point of the game and 64 squares is far easier than to teach first, than the other things an educated citizen needs to know to be able to effectively interact with other citizens.
Teaching requires the ability to impart the skill of symbol manipulation, chess facititates this.
All chess players know that chess is a very long way from being simple.
The clever bit happens when the youngster works out that s/he will win many more games if they know how to open, learning openings is a microcosm of learing in general, learning openings is learning the ‘lore’ of chess, just as in the same way, learning Latin and Shakespeare is learning the ‘lore’ of English.
In summation, teaching chess to the very young, teaches them how to learn ‘how to learn’.