SPONSORED BY

Chess in Schools
Our Global Future

Contents
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov………………………………………………........ 1
Chess as a Teaching Tool – Educational Cutlery ……………....... 2
Mikhail Gorbachev – Patron of Chess in Schools…………........... 4
Fidel Castro Ruiz ………………………………………………......... 6
William Jefferson Clinton ……………………………………............ 7
Benjamin Franklin ………………………………………………........ 8
CHESS IN SCHOOLS H.E. Jacob Zuma ………………………………………………......... 9
SPONSORED BY Viswanathan Anand – World Champion …………………….......... 10
Educational Benefits of Chess ……………………………….......... 12
Social Benefits of Chess ……………………………………........... 15
Health Benefits of Chess ………………………………………........18
CiS – FIDE's Chess in Schools Commission …………………...... 21
Heads of State…………………………………………………….......22
European Parliament ………………………………………………...24
Denmark …………………………………………………………….... 26
France ……………………………………………………………….... 27
ROSNEFT Trinidad & Tobago ………………………………………………….... 29
India …………………………………………………………………... 30
Turkey ………………………………………………………………… 31
USA …………………………………………………………………… 36
Chess & Education Conferences ………………………………….. 38
CiS Commission Meeting 2012 ……………………………………. 40
CiS Training Seminars ……………………………………………… 41
Conferences ………………………………………………………….. 42
Research ……………………………………………………………... 43
Rosneft Training Camps for Children ……………………………... 44
CiS Promotion and Materials ………………………………………. 45
Bibliography ………………………………………………………….. 46
 1

Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov, b. 1962

President of FIDE 1995-
President of Kalmykia, Russian Federation 1993-2010
«Since 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 of
Education 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 had
brought 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
 2
EDUCATIONAL CUTLERY

The plates of both children and

teachers are full to overflowing
with content. How and why should
schools find a place for chess?

Schools and educators need a

simple and direct way to teach
process standards (“thinking
skills”). It is important that the
content should not keep
expanding every day. The main
challenge for children should be to
explore and develop the way that
we think. If it could be fun as well,
that would be ideal.

Chess provides the perfect

educational cutlery or chopsticks
to achieve that.
 3
CHESS AS A TEACHING TOOL

Chess has all the qualities needed to be an

excellent teaching tool.

For maximum benefit, it should be introduced in

schools not to develop chess players but to
further a child's development.

Chess can be used to solve educational

problems, 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 create
more intelligent school leavers, better adapted
to our knowledge-based world; a brighter future
for our global society.
 Mikhail Gorbachev, b. 1931
4 Honorary Patron of Chess in Schools

M. Gorbachev with Women World

Champion Hou Yifan

When I was young, I used to like this game, but

then politics has not left any space for other
things, chess included. This wonderful game is
a real feast of intellect and great achievement of
our mankind.
 5

In today's global community we all are

connected by millions of invisible threads. As
never before, we all depend one on another.
However, still there are many things which
keep countries and nations apart, the conflicts
which are left from the past or recent ones. We
have not learnt so far the way we should live in
this global community.

Therefore it is even more important to cherish

the things which unite us and bring us together,
the things which cause interest and attention of
millions of the people and make them more
noble and can be passed as a tradition from
one generation to another. During many
centuries chess is a part of human heritage
and the names of great chess players of
various epochs have become part and parcel
of the history of this game, and history of great
achievements of a human mind.

It is a special pleasure for me that my

country, Russia, is one of the leaders of
world chess. The traditions of Alexander
Alekhine, Mikhail Botvinnik, Elisaveta Bykova
and other champions are continued in the
games of younger generation. I am very glad
that following the invitation of Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov, I could become a patron of the
Chess in Schools movement.
 6 Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, b.1926
President of Cuba 1976-2008

“El ajedrez debe formar parte del programa escolar."

'Chess ought to be a part of the
school curriculum'
 William Jefferson Clinton, b. 1946,
42nd U.S. President. 7
He played for the Georgetown University
chess team in 1968.
He is a supporter of the
Chess-in-the-Schools programme.

“Playing chess helps students

develop thinking and analyzing skills,
concentration, greater self-control
and self-confidence ...
We have hard evidence that chess
in the schools works.”
 8
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
A Founding Father of the United States

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 bad
appearances in the state of our affairs ... persevering
in the search of resources”.
 His Excellency Jacob Zuma, b.1942
President of South Africa 2009- 9
“In summary, the benefits that accumulate
from the teaching and promotion of chess
in schools include the following:

.The game teaches patience. You have

to give the opponent time and space to
think and make his or her own move.

.It teaches that a decision must be an

outcome of a serious thought process.

.Chess teaches discipline, for example

as chess players would know, “touch is
a move”. When you touch, you must
move, 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 of strategic thinking as well as concentration,
analytical skills and problem solving.”
 10

Viswanathan Anand, b.1969

World Chess Champion 2000-2002 & 2007-
“I have always said that chess should
be promoted at the school level, so that
we have many more young players ready
to take the game forward! And it is really
satisfying that my home state has taken
this step, which will go a long way in
taking chess to a higher level in India.

I really want to thank Chief Minister

J Jayalalithaa for taking this decision,
which ought to be emulated by other
states. States like Gujarat are already
promoting chess at school level and it
has started showing results. But, when
something is made compulsory, people
generally tend to balk at it...

"The strategies from the game of chess can

be used effectively and innovatively to create
the great leaders tomorrow."
WORLD CHESS 11
FEDERATION

I think school kids won't baulk at

chess.
Introduce them to this game and they
will
take to it like fish taking to water!
Just like sports in schools are
compulsory
and kids love it, similarly, they will
acquire a taste for this game soon
enough. And I
feel Indian kids have an aptitude for
this
mind game.

I know this because I've been

promoting the game amongst the
youngsters for long.” Speaking to
The
Times of India in January 2012 about
the
introduction of chess as part of the
curriculum in Tamil Nadu.
 12

EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS OF CHESS

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 miss
the wood for the trees, therefore this document is intentionally brief.
If detailed evidence is required, please refer to the sources and
links in the Bibliography.
Chess helps promote intellectual growth and has been
shown to improve academic 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 to
be responsible for their decisions and the consequences of those decisions.
WORLD CHESS 13
FEDERATION

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 assess
strengths and weaknesses, establish value judgments and
make decisions.
*Ethical sense. Improvements in attitude and general behaviour
are often noted.
14 WORLD CHESS
FEDERATION

Specific benefits that are often

mentioned include:
Better results in mathematics and improvements in literacy.

*Focusing - Children are taught the benefits of observing carefully and concentrating. If they
don'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. We

actually 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 I
do this, what might happen then, and how can I respond?' Over time, chess helps develop
patience and thoughtfulness.

*Weighing Options - Children are taught that they don't have to do the first thing that pops into
their 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 than
impulse.

*Thinking Abstractly - Children are taught to step back periodically from details and consider the
bigger 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 bringing
them about. They are also taught of the need to re-evaluate their plans as new developments
change the situation.

*Juggling Multiple Considerations Simultaneously - Children are encouraged not to become

overly 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 notable
developments have been those in China, Denmark, France, India, Russia, Turkey, the United
States and Venezuela.

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.
 15
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 that
“the 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.”
 16
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 Jetibá municipality
and the Espírito Santo State
Secretary 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 SportAccord
Convention in Quebec, Canada on
the 24th of May 2012.

al change.
 WORLD CHESS 17
FEDERATION

SCHOOLS case of "seeing is believing." In 1988 a ten-

Schools chess programmes in many
countries have reported improvements in
attitude and general behaviour (“ethical
sense”). In the schools, chess often serves as
a bridge, bringing together children of different
ages, races and genders in an activity they
can all enjoy.
Chess helps build individual friendships and
also school spirit when children compete
together as teams against other schools.
Chess also teaches children about
sportsmanship - how to win graciously and not
give up when encountering defeat.
year-old boy I was coaching was functionally
illiterate. His family had a very low income,
they lived in social housing and he attended
the local "sink" school. His future was not
bright, but he loved chess and wanted to play
in tournaments, so he needed to be able to
notate his games. He wanted to push for a
place in the National Junior Squad, so he
needed to read chess literature. Therefore, he
taught himself to read and write. His school
work improved so much that he gained a place
at the best secondary school in the area. The
last I heard, he had passed his final school
exams with flying colours and was off to
university.

For children with adjustment issues, there are

many examples where chess has led to
increased motivation, improved behaviour,
better self-image, and even improved
attendance. Chess provides a positive social
outlet, a wholesome recreational activity that
can be easily learned and enjoyed at any age.

TESTIMONIALS

“The effects have been remarkable," Brown

says. "Not only have the reading and math
skills of these children soared, their ability to
socialize has increased substantially, too. Our
studies have shown that incidents of
suspension and outside altercations have
decreased by at least 60% since these
children became interested in chess." Joyce
Brown, an assistant principal and supervisor -
Roberto Clemente school's Special
Education department - NY.

“Whenever we get a child transferred from

another school who may have maladaptive
behavior, our principal suggests chess as a
way 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 social

mobility. For me (Kevin O'Connell) it was a
18

HEALTH BENEFITS
An increasing amount of attention is
being paid to the health benefits of
chess. These are mostly quite recent
discoveries and point to the great
value of learning chess during
childhood since it seems to confer
health benefits almost from the cradle
to the grave. They can be
summarized as:
Chess leads to an improvement in
cognitive functioning and has been
cited as a significant tool in the fight
against Alzheimer's.
Chess can help patients who have
suffered from stroke to recover.
Chess assists recovery in people
suffering from physical and emotional
disability.
Chess helps to prevent anxiety and
depression by encouraging self
improvement, improving self esteem
and self confidence. By contrast,
excessive time spent on activities
that do not challenge the brain,
particularly watching television, has
been linked to an increased
incidence of depression.
Chess (as recreational therapy)
helps prevent or reduce non-adaptive
or inappropriate behaviour.

It has long been known that chess

i m p r o v e s a t t e n t i o n , m e m o r y,
organization skills and perception. It
improves the ability of cognitive-
impaired individuals to work on
issues related to orientation, sensory
stimulation and environmental
awareness.

VALENCIA, SPAIN
In 2006 a team from Valencia University
Hospital, led by Dr. José Miguel Lainez Andrés,
reported some very impressive results
concerning the value of chess as an
intervention therapy against cognitive decline.
The authors pointed out that chess is a
complete mental training; in addition to sports
and psychological factors, the player is forced
to be highly accurate in this complex and
elaborate mental process. The object of the
study was to examine whether the mental
exercise performed during the learning and
practice of chess has an impact on improving
the performance of some cognitive abilities in
older subjects.
Their hypothesis was that "Learning to play
chess at the cognitive level is beneficial in older
WORLD CHESS 19
FEDERATION
people".
The study population consisted of users of
specialized centres for the care of the elderly in
four locations around Spain. The chess group
attended a weekly chess class for seven
months, while the control group attended other
courses. Standard tests (including Raven's
Matrices, Stroop Test and others) were used to
assess changes in cognitive abilities. The tests
were performed both at the beginning and the
end of the study period.
The researchers discovered that, broadly
speaking, approximately two thirds of the entire
experimental group of subjects experienced an
improvement in neuropsychological test
performance, usually progressive.
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Some aspects of age-related cognitive
decline begin in healthy educated adults
when they are in their 20s and 30s (Salthouse
2009). These declines may seem relatively
minor compared with problems that may
appear later in life such as Alzheimer's
disease and dementia, but just as it's never
too early to adopt a healthy lifestyle, it makes
sense to take care of our brains now rather
than waiting until there has been a serious
decline.
Most attention is being paid to the value of
chess in the fight against Alzheimer's which
blights the lives of 35 million people and their
families.
20

Research among those over the age of 60 CHESS AS SPORT

strongly suggests that chess is valuable Mens sana in corpore sano
in combating Alzheimer's. A collaborative Chess was recognised as a sport by the
Franco-Russian research effort began International Olympic Committee in 1999.
recently (December 2010) between the FIDE is a member of ARISF (Association
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire of Nice, of IOC Recognised International Sports
led by Professor Philippe Robert and Federations), SportAccord and other
Prof. Vladimir Zakharov's team from the international sport organizations. Chess
Moscow State Medical University. is an affiliate member, or fully recognized
Dr David Shenk, author of The Forgetting, by, National Olympic Committees in 115
the definitive work on Alzheimer's, countries, and chess as a sport is
commented on the value of chess as an recognized in 105 countries. These
Alzheimer antidote in a 2006 interview: numbers are constantly being revised
"You need to exercise your brain. Chess upwards.
is a particularly good brain builder. It's
quite easy to learn, but the possibilities With 178 member federations, FIDE is
are endless - you never run out of a among the biggest sports organizations
challenge." in the world, very proud of over forty
official championships for youngsters,
Asked when it is best to learn, he men, women and seniors.
answered "the earlier the better.
Particularly for young kids, chess is like a
Stairmaster for logical thinking."
The World Alzheimer Report 2010 stated
that “dementia is significantly affecting
every health and social care system in the
world and costs of dementia are set to
soar.” Estimated worldwide costs of
dementia are, according to the
Alzheimer's Association, US$604 billion.
Prevention is better than cure and
teaching chess in schools is a cheap way
to implement something of known value
to reduce those costs and greatly improve
the lives of those affected.
 CiS – FIDE's CHESS IN SCHOOLS COMMISSION

Mikhail Gorbachev became Honorary Patron

21
of Chess in Schools in 2011.

FIDE's Commission for Chess in Schools was

founded in 1984. Initially, teaching chess in
schools was regarded as a way of creating club
and tournament players, who would join their
national chess federations. The schools were to be
the source of future masters, grandmasters and
champions.

Gradually, the focus shifted towards using chess

as 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 six
years. The proof of the change can be seen in the
vision of the Commission Chairman and his
implementation of that vision within Turkey.

The Commission's web site (cis.fide.com) is an

important source of information for anyone with an
interest in chess in schools. It provides support for
the enormous efforts of the FIDE President in his
role as a global ambassador.

The Commission, and FIDE as a whole, is

immensely proud to have our new Honorary
Patron. Mikhail Gorbachev accepted that position
at the end of September 2011.
22 HEADS OF STATE
Many heads of state are supportive of chess in general and
chess in schools in particular. We know that most, if not all
of them play chess themselves, even if only occasionally. A
number have already been featured, here are some more.

HRH Queen Elizabeth II with President Zuma and a South African

chess 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.
 23

President Vladimir Putin

greets Champion
Anand and challenger
Gelfand after the 2012
match in Moscow.
Mr. Putin has
expressed great interest
in FIDE's Chess in
Schools
programme. In
2006 he
instructed
the
Ministry of
Education
to support
this
program
me in
Russia.

President Obama
mentions chess
in his autobiography.
Michelle Obama also plays.

Several US Presidents were strong players,
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 chess
player, but he did declare October 9th, 1976,
National Chess Day.
Many US Presidents have played chess,
including at least John Adams, Thomas
Jefferson, James Madison, James
Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Abraham
Lincoln, Ulysses S Grant, Rutherford
Hayes, James Garfield, Grover
Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, William
Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren
Harding, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and
Barack Obama.
 24

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
On 13 March 2012, Mr Martin Schulz, E. whereas, chess is accessible sport for
President of the EU Parliament children from every social group, which
announced that the Written Declaration does not require financial resources for
50/2011 had been endorsed – 415 infrastructure and organization,
members had added their endorsement,
far exceeding the 369 needed.

A. whereas the Treaty on the Functioning

of the European Union, in Article 6
provides that sport is among the areas,
'where the Union shall have competences
to carry out actions to support, coordinate
or supplement the actions of the Member
States'.

B.whereas chess could help social

cohesion and could contribute to policy
objectives, such as social integration,
combating discrimination, reducing crime
rates and even fight with various
addictions;

C. whereas no matter of the age of the

child, chess can improve his/her
concentration, patience and persistence,
and can develop sense of creativity,
intuition and memory of the children;

D. whereas, chess helps the development

of children's ability to analyze, to take
difficult decisions, and to flexibly solve
problems; it teaches determination,
motivation and sportsmanship;
 25
1. Calls on the European
Commission and the Member
States to encourage the
introduction of the program 'Chess
in School' in the educational
systems of the EU Member
States;

2. Calls on the Member States to

ensure adequate funding for the
sport, without using significant
budgetary cuts, even in times of
financial crisis;

3. Calls on the European

Commission in its forthcoming
Communication on Sport to pay
proper attention to the program
'Chess in School' and to ensure
sufficient funding for it from 2012
onwards;

4. Calls on the Commission to

take into consideration the results
of the studies on the effect of the
program on children's
development;

5. Instructs its President to

forward this declaration, together
with the names of the signatories,
to the Commission and the
Parliaments of the Member States

The full text is available in

the Documents section of
our Chess in Schools web
site (cis.fide.com).
26
Denmark
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 deprived areas.
Bring Minorities in Games (BMIS) is a 3-year
social project in Aarhus and Copenhagen. In
partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Aarhus Municipality, Dansk Skoleskak
uses school chess clubs not only as a
gateway to community activities for the
children and their parents – but also as a
stepping stone towards involvement in other
kinds of social activities such as sports and
voluntary social work.
Skoleskak – The Right Move! is based on
experience from the U.S. Chess-in-the-
Schools social projects in New York and the
Dansk Skoleskak's ongoing project Bring
Minorities In Games (BMIS Bring
Minoriteterne i Spil).
The Right Move! has two main objectives:
To develop a model for collaboration
between housing organizations and schools
as part of a holistic approach whereby chess
in school contributes to new collaborations.
Thus the intention is that housing area
children and adults are contributors to chess
in school activities. This enhances
citizenship and creates empowerment for
both young and old.
To enhance young people's learning
and social development as a contribution to
education and healthy life through active
participation in schools chess. In this way it is
an important carrier of Danish cultural
values.
Three municipalities, six schools and 2000
children and young people have been
involved in the project over a 4-year period.
Students participate in the 8-week chess in
school courses.
 27
Bring Minorities in Games has
had a still wider reach. The project
involves 4,500 students, 250
school teachers in Aarhus and
Copenhagen. Chess is used as a
tool in education and after school,
to strengthen the participating
children and young people's
social and intellectual skills. BMIS
significantly increases the
students' connection with the
voluntary sector, while also
enhancing their universal
learning skills. It is a project that
helps prevent social problems, at
the same time tackling lack of
integration and reducing special
education needs.
Denmark and the United States
lead the way with such social
programmes.
 28 FRANCE
The French Ministry of Education recognizes the
educational and social benefits of chess in schools.
The Ministry first signed a convention with the
French
Chess Federation in 2007. In 2011 it was renewed,
to run until 2014.

In January of 2012, the Ministry of issued an

Chess in primary school (7-10)
important notice to all education authorities in the
country. This was an article in the "Bulletin officiel"
(No.3 of 2012, 19 January). It relates to the
introduction of chess in schools. The scheme is
being piloted nationally.

Here is a translation of perhaps the most important

part of the text: The plan for science and technology
in schools expects teachers to use traditional
)41-11( egèlloC ni ssehC games, such as chess, which helps the
development of pupils' motivation and concentration,
and encourages an independence of mind. Teachers
will 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 éduscol 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 the
common core skills, including "math and science
literacy" and "autonomy and initiative"; promote
citizenship learning.
 29

Trinidad & Tobago

One such is the Ministry of
Education in Trinidad & Tobago.
In Istanbul 2012, the Trinidad &
Tobago Chess Federation
signed a CiS agreement. That
was followed by a tripartite
Memorandum of Understanding
regarding Chess in Schools
between FIDE, the Trinidad and
Tobago Ministry of Education
and the Trinidad and Tobago
Chess Federation.

The Ministry regards chess as an important tool in their

new education policy. If all goes well, chess will soon
be taught in all 500 of the nation's schools. Even better,
chess will become a part of the teacher training
syllabus, so that there will be no shortage of qualified
chess teachers.

The Slovenian Ministry of Education provides a similar

portal with an even more extensive range of support
materials – Skupnost SIO. These Ministries provide
role models for other countries to follow.
30 INDIA
NIIT Mind Champions' Academy, a joint non-profit
initiative between Grand Master Viswanathan
Anand and NIIT Ltd., promotes Chess in schools
across India. The Academy has so far reached
more than 10,000 schools and about 1,000,000
students. Chess inculcates the critical skills of
logical thinking and analysis amongst children and
moulds them into true champions. The positive
effects of chess on the behaviour and academic
performance of students is well documented.

NIIT Mind Champions' Academy introduces

students in the age group of 7 - 17 years to the world
of Chess. It motivates them to develop their chess
skills 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 towards
making a positive impact on behaviour and
academic achievement.

Recent studies and surveys amongst students have

shown that chess playing improves behavioural
traits as well as academic performance. It hones
their problem solving and decision making skills
while also inculcating patience and concentration.
Students also tended to be more confident,
developed self regulated learning and displayed
greater motivation to perform in academic
disciplines.

A Pan-India study (11,000 students) on the impact of

this programme on children - 'Developing Mind
Champions through Chess', showed that playing
chess regularly has led to behavioural improvement
as well as improvement in academic performance.
The study also showed that students who regularly
play chess have developed self-regulated learning,
better concentration, problem solving and decision
making skills. Also, in response to an online survey,
over 6000 children have mentioned that chess has
helped them to perform better in science and
mathematics. Students also mentioned that they
have developed patience.
 31
SEMINARS
Indian States are beginning to
introduce chess to the
curriculum. Gujarat was the first
State to do so. Tamil Nadu is
beginning to implement a huge
scheme, introducing chess into
every school in the state and at
every age level, 7-17.
Maharashtra also now has a
pilot scheme and looks to follow
in the footsteps of the others.

The huge task facing Tamil

Nadu is to train enough
schoolteachers to implement
the plan. Most of the teachers
concerned are physical
education teachers with no
knowledge of chess.

The very first CiS Training

Seminar took place in Chennai,
capital of Tamil Nadu. All 26
participants gained the School
Instructor title and 22 of them
qualified to train the teachers.
Each one of them can train 100
teachers a month and three are
qualified to train still more
teacher trainers.

The Chennai seminar was

immediately followed by two
more: New Delhi and Jalgaon
(Maharashtra), with another 52
trainees, of whom all but four
qualified for the School
Instructor title and 31 qualified
as trainers of teachers.
 32
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 in classrooms at
the beginning of the school
year in the autumn.
TURKEY
Ali Nihat Yazici was elected President of the Turkish
Chess Federation (TSF) a few days after the closing
ceremony of the Istanbul Chess Olympiad in 2000. He
inherited a small federation of about 300 members and a
budget to match. By 2002, Ali and his small team
succeeded in growing TSF membership more than 20-
fold! Then he got an appointment to meet the Minister of
Education. He told the Minister that the TSF wanted to
make chess an elective course in all primary schools.
The Minister asked “Why?” and Ali replied that it was
because they wanted chess champions like Kasparov
and Karpov to emerge from Turkish schools. The
Minister's response was: “Go to the Sports Ministry!”
Everyone makes mistakes. The clever thing is to learn
from them.
Three years passed. The TSF was apparently
developing nicely, more than trebling membership again
to 24,000. A new Minister, a retired Associate Professor,
Dr. Hüseyin Celik, had arrived at the Ministry of
Education in 2003. In 2005, Ali fluked a meeting with him
and told the man, just like his predecessor, that he
wanted 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 this
Minister that it was because he wanted Turkish children
to become more intelligent.
The opening was followed up with a strong middle game
plan. Ali gave him a short brief, explaining the
educational and social benefits of chess and how all this
could 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 staff
were checking them), then we have to start this project.
The Ministry was so keen, they wanted to make chess a
compulsory part of the curriculum. The TSF refused.
For a start, it was simply not practical instantly to train
up 100,000 teachers or more to cater for 70,000
primary schools and 16,000,000 children. Second, and
most important, was the idea that chess should be fun
for the children, something they choose to do and that
the project would be more successful if chess was an
elective 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 in
classrooms at the beginning of the school year in the
autumn.

TEACHER/TRAINER NUMBERS
Dr. Olgun Kulaç, a member of the TSF
Education Committee, set to work writing
three books; a first year class book, a
follow-on class book and an
accompanying teacher's guide – more
than 500 pages in all, and he had all of
three months to do it, less the time needed
for book design and printing! FIDE Senior
Trainer Mikhail Gurevich undertook to train
up 100 trainers who would then train the
teachers. From the announcement, on the
TSF web site on June 5, of that training
course in Ankara, a mere 25 days elapsed
until the 100 trainers were ready to be
unleashed on the teachers in seminars
held the length and breadth of the country.
There was no shortage of teacher
applicants, all wanting to go on this training
course. The 100 trainers taught groups of
30 or so teachers each week during the
late summer. The schoolteachers are
taught how to teach chess. Even though
very few of them are chess players, it is
quite easy; for a start, they already know
how to teach! It does not matter that they
are not strong players (or even not players
at all), you don't have to be an Einstein to
teach physics in school, especially in
primary school.
WORLD CHESS 33
FEDERATION
By the time those courses were completed,
at the end of September, some 10,000
teachers had been trained in time for the
start of the academic year. The training has
continued apace, and there are now more
than 50,000 certified teachers.
With all those teachers trained, it was
essential to have children clamouring to be
taught, so a one minute TV commercial
was prepared. That was aired by the Public
Broadcasting Service, starting in August
2005.
http://cis.fide.com/en/videos/98-tsf-
advertising
Just weeks later, that first batch of 10,000
teachers was introducing chess to more
than half a million children.
Those teachers are only part of the
equation; they could not do much chess
teaching without materials. The other core
element is the provision of 'chess
classrooms', consisting of a
demonstration board, a bunch of
boards and sets, books for the
children, and, of course, books for
the teachers, with the answers
inside! Initially, the federation
provided a large quantity of these.
 34
Later, after a sponsor emerged, the sponsor took
responsibility for these, installing 200 in 2007. 200 may
not sound much, but the number doubled in 2008, and
each subsequent year (although it's running a bit behind
this year – 2011). Also, those classrooms are used by
multiple classes. [Some schools already had
equipment.]
Press coverage soon built up, averaging 15 column
inches a day (almost 500 feet a year) with an enormous
reach (detailed figures are commercially sensitive). By
the end of the year, chess in schools was making its
impact felt all over the country, so it was not really a
miracle when a major sponsor appeared.
Here you can see the benefit of big numbers. It was
those numbers that attracted Turkiye Is Bankasi (Bank
of Turkey), the largest bank not only in Turkey, but in
Eastern Europe and maybe in the Middle East. The bank
approached the TSF - not the other way around! Half a
million children equals about three million people when
you add in parents and grandparents, almost all of them
consumers and voters. The children themselves are all
potentially future customers of the bank.
The first contact came in July of
2005, after the bank saw the news
that chess was to be introduced to
the curriculum. At first, they were
interested to print the books, in
return for including their
advertising in them. However,
that was not acceptable to the
Education Ministry. As time went
on, and the number of children
involved began to be clear, so the
bank was happy to print the
books, 250,000 of them, as part of
its social responsibility
programme.
The bank officially became the
TSF's sponsor on 23 December
2005. The following day, the bank
announced that it was ending its
sponsorship of Turkish football
(soccer).
WORLD CHESS 35
FEDERATION

Chess has gone on to become the biggest sport in

Turkey, and the bank now sponsors the TSF to the
tune of well over €1,000,000. The bank is very
happy with the arrangement and worked with the
TSF on producing an annual TV advertisement,
but in 2009, the TSF got a surprise … The bank
produced this advertisement as a 'surprise
present' for the federation.

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

The Ministry wants to see EVERY school with a

chess classroom and there is a strong demand
from schools. Teachers are applying at the rate of
30-60 per day. A cycle of renovation of the existing
chess classrooms has begun. This is a project
without end.

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

Ali Nihat Yazici is a FIDE Vice

President and Chairman of FIDE's
Chess in Schools Commission (CiS).
 36
USA
USA
The majority of the initiatives in the USA are
undertaken by private individuals and non-profit
organizations. It is extremely difficult for the U.S. Chess
Federation to influence chess education nationally
because the control of education is devolved to local
boards of education. However, one State has enacted
legislation:

NEW JERSEY

The Legislature finds and declares that:

chess increases strategic thinking skills, stimulates

intellectual creativity, and improves problem-
solving ability, while raising self-esteem;

when youngsters play chess they must call upon

higher-order thinking skills, analyze actions and
consequences, and visualize future possibilities;

in countries where chess is offered widely in schools,

students exhibit excellence in the ability to recognize
complex patterns and consequently excel in math
and science;

and instruction in chess during the second grade will

enable pupils to learn skills which will serve them
throughout their lives.

An act concerning instruction in chess and

supplementing Chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New
Jersey Statutes.
 37

CHESS-IN-THE-SCHOOLS
The 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 socialization
in inner-city schools in the Bronx and in Harlem, Chess-in-the-Schools has an annual
budget 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 given

rise to popular movies. The first was Knights
of the South Bronx (2005) about
schoolteacher David MacEnulty and his
chess team of underprivileged children.
MacEnulty showed that chess confers a set
of mind skills that enable children to face
real life challenges. The team triumphed,
against all the odds, beating teams from
private schools across the country.

In 2012, Brooklyn Castle was released. It is

the improbable story of I.S.318 in Brooklyn.
Almost two thirds of the students are from
families living below the poverty line. Last
year, this Middle School of under-14s were
runners-up in the US National High School
(under-18) Championships. This year, they
became the first Middle School ever to win
the event.
 38 CHESS & EDUCATION
CONFERENCES

A very important conference

“Chess and Education” took
place in Istanbul on the 30th of
August 2012.

This initiative, sponsored by

Rosneft, the global sponsor of
FIDE Chess in Schools, will be
followed by a series of such
conferences in the future.

The conference was opened by

FIDE President Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov who addressed the
capacity audience with his
speech on the enormous
importance of teaching children
to play chess and the interest of
Ministers of Education in various
countries in the Chess in
Schools movement.

The chairman of CiS, Ali Nihat

Ya z i c i , t o o k t h e f l o o r a n d
welcomed everybody to the
conference.

The keynote presentation

“Chess as a Sport” rounded off
the opening session. It was given
by Professor Dr. Caner Açikada,
Dean of the School of Sport
Science, Hacettepe University,
Ankara.
 39
A cooperation Agreement
between Ministry of Education of
the Republic of Lebanon,
Lebanese Chess Federation (with
its President Nabil Bader) and
FIDE was signed, namely by
Minister of Education of the
Republic of Lebanon Hassan B.
Diab and FIDE President Kirsan
Ilyumzhinov.

The conference continued with the

emphasis laid on Chess in Schools
from the viewpoint of FIDE's
national federations, especially in
the light of our CiS100 Projects in
Slovakia and Slovenia.

The afternoon session had

presentations by two important
speakers from Italy and India.
Alessandro Dominici's “Victor's
House” is a method of teaching
chess to very young children
without the need to train teachers.
Malola Prasath discussed ideas for
inclusive classroom teaching,
especially in classes with both blind
and sighted players. He also
discussed the results of research
into the educational benefits that
have resulted from the NIIT Anand
project.
 40
CiS COMMISSION MEETING
2012
Dr. Joe Verghese
Professor of Neurology
The CiS Commission meeting at the
2012 FIDE Congress had the
highest attendance of any
commission.

Reports and presentations were

made by representatives of
Andorra, Argentina, Bahamas,
India, Italy, Russia and Sweden.
Wide-ranging discussions enabled
an excellent exchange of
information, helping to develop
knowledge of current best practice.

Chess in higher education has not

previously had a home and little
attention was paid to it. That has
now come under the wing of the CiS
Commission. There was much
discussion on the subject and Prof.
Açikada now heads a Higher
Education Research sub-
committee.

Spanish chess journalist Leontxo

Garcia gave an excellent
presentation of “Chess: Best Gym
for the Mind” with special emphasis
on chess as an antidote to
Alzheimer's disease.

All the materials from the

Commission meeting are to be
found on the Commission's web site
http://cis.fide.com.
CiS TRAINING SEMINARS

As FIDE's Chess in Schools program is

41
rolled out around the world, it is very
important that we train the
schoolteachers who are going to teach
the children.

Training seminars, sponsored by

Rosneft, are being held in all partner
countries. These seminars are mostly
aimed at giving existing chess trainers the
special skills and knowledge required so
that they can then train the teachers.

The first of these seminars were held in

India and are being followed up with
seminars in Ethiopia and Malawi, to equip
trainers from many African countries,
including Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda,
Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Further seminars are being arranged in

Algeria, Guernsey, Ireland, Jersey,
Lebanon, Moldova, Peru and Trinidad &
Tobago, with more to follow.
Algeria, Slovakia and Slovenia have
already made a lot of progress in training
the schoolteachers, more than 1200 so
far. India, like Turkey, will soon be training
thousands of schoolteachers each year.
42
CONFERENCES

Recent years have seen many academic

conferences on the subject of chess in
schools and chess in education generally.
The most important ones have been :
2001 Dallas, George Koltanowski Memorial
Conference on Chess and Education.
Redman (ed), Chess and Education:
Selected Essays from the Koltanowski
Conference, University of Texas at Dallas,
2006.
2011 Dallas, 2nd George Koltanowski
Memorial Conference on Chess and
Education.
http://www.utdallas.edu/chess/education-
camp/second-koltanowski-conference.html
2012 Turin, Chess and Mathematics:
Learning by Playing.
http://www.europechesspromotion.org/hom
e-english.htm

2004 Menorca, 1er. Congreso Internacional

De La Enseñanza Del Ajedrez.

2007 Aberdeen, Chess in the Schools and

Communities Conference, Aberdeen
University
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/rowangroup/cisccon.
shtml

2008 Tomsk, Проблемы и перспективы

развития шахматного образования в
России (Problems and prospects of the
development of chess education in Russia).

2009 Moscow, Шахматы в системе

образования России и мира (Chess in
Russia's education system and the world).
2009 Turin, Chess, a game to grow up with.
2010 Khanty-Mansiysk, Шахматы как
инновационный учебный предмет в
системе образования (Chess as a subject
in an innovative educational system)
2010 Mexico City, El ajedrez, es una
herramienta fundamental.
http://www.ajedrezunam.mx/contenido/paral
elas-coloquio.htm
The next major conference will be in
Istanbul, 30 August 2012, organized
by FIDE CiS, in collaboration with the
Turkish National Ministry of
Education. The aim of the
conference is to demonstrate that
introducing chess into the school
curriculum is not a problem, but a
solution.

2011 Satka, Ак т уальные проблемы

преподавания учебной дисциплины
"Шахматы" в общеобразовательных
школах и детских садах России и других
стран мира (Problems of teaching chess in
schools and kindergartens in Russia and
other countries around the world)

2011 Vienna, Wiener Schulschach-Enquete.

 43
RESEARCH

In order fully to appreciate the benefits of chess in

schools, it is necessary to consult the detail in the
references given in the bibliography, but here are a few
impressive snippets.
The following charts are from Michel Noir's work. They
compare the scholastic test results of children who have
had the advantage of learning chess in school and those
who have not.

Concentration +50%

Reasoning +32%

CURRICULUM
Chess has a place in the school curriculum in some
regions, if not all in the following countries:

ĖÕNMŌÒM Andorra Armenia Austria Brazil

Bulgaria China Cyprus France Georgia
Greece Hungary India Israel Italy
Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lithuania Moldova
Netherlands Poland Romania Russia San Marino
Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Turkey Vietnam

The number will soon be increased. Those currently

planning to introduce chess to the curriculum include
Algeria, Peru,Syria, Uruguay.
 Rosneft Training Camps
44
for Children
FIDE's Chess in Schools program is
organizing training camps for children
in countries around the world.

The first in what is expected to be a

long series of training days around the
world, sponsored by our global
sponsor Rosneft, took place in
Isleworth, West London.
The training day was free for under-
11s who registered. Each trainee
received a free T-shirt and cap and got
to play in a simul against a master.

The second CiS Training Camp was in

Geneva, supporting the introduction
of Chess in Schools in Switzerland. It
was attended by local authorities, city
principals, many teachers (who
participated in a seminar) and of
course a large number of children who
played in a specially organized
tournament. The plan for Geneva for
2012-2013 is: 25 schools, 80 classes,
1500 children and over 1200 hours of
school time for chess.

The third, in New York, just managed

to beat Hurricane Sandy and
benefited from a skilled face painter.
 45

CiS Promotion
CiS Promotion
An important element in getting the message of
Chess in Schools out to the national federations
and others around the world is our development of
promotional material, such as this very book.
Throughout the Chess Olympiad in Istanbul 2012,
we took advantage of the presence of thousands
of interested people from more than 150 of FIDE's
177 federations, by setting up a CiS stand.

It was usually thronged with visitors, including

many Grandmasters. There were representatives
of national federations calling by to sign
agreements, to collect material or just to discuss
the way forward for chess in schools in their
country.

Rather than try to impose a one-size-fits-all

version of chess in schools, CiS endeavours to
tailor materials and development to best fit the
circumstances of each federation in each country.
The CiS Handbook provides guidance to
federations 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 wherewithal
to develop those projects.
 46
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
An annotated bibliography of more than 300 Ferguson,R. (1983), Ferguson,R. (1994),
references and studies can be found on Teaching the fourth "R" (Reasoning) through
FIDE's Chess in Schools web site – chess. Tests used were the Watson-Glaser
cis.fide.com. It is, however, worth noting the CTA and the Torrance test of creative
best overview of the field and a few of the thinking. The chess group significantly
most important ones. outperformed not only the control group but
also the computer group. Each group met
Ferguson, Robert (2006), Chess and once a week for 32 weeks.
Learning: An Annotated Bibliography was
commissioned for the book of the 2001
Dallas conference, itself an important work:
Chess and Education: Selected Essays from
the Koltanowski Conference, University of
Dallas at Texas, 2006. Ferguson provides
brief notes about the contents of some 150
English language works.

Christiaen (1976), Christiaen,J. and

Verhoftadt-Denève,L. (1981), Chess and
cognitive development. Piagetian tests,
internal school aptitude tests and school
results used to evaluate outcome. The chess
group outperformed the control group on all
tests. The chess group had received one
hour of chess instruction per week for 42
weeks (a year and a half).

Frank (1979), Frank,A. and D'Hondt,W.

(1979), Frank,A. (1981), Aptitudes et
apprentissage du jeu d'échecs au Zaire. Two
psychometric tests were used for evaluation.
The chess group performed better than the
control group on both 'numerical aptitude'
and 'verbal ability.' The chess group met two
hours per week for one year.

Liptrap, J. (1998), Chess and standard test

scores. The Texas Assessment of Academic
Skills was used to evaluate the outcome of
this large-scale study (567 students). The
chess group showed statistically
significant gains in reading and
mathematics compared with
the control group.

Both groups improved over a

two year period, but the
chess group's improvement
was approximately double that of the
control group. The chess group participated
in a school chess club for two years.
Ferguson,R. (1986), Developing critical and
creative thinking through chess. A four-year 47
federally funded study to identify which activities
would augment critical and creative thinking
skills. Chess produced the greatest gains.

Ferguson,R. (1988), Development of Reasoning

and Memory through Chess. The subtests for
'memory' and 'verbal reasoning' from the
California Achievement Test were used. The
chess group significantly outperformed the
general population on 'memory' and marginally
on 'verbal reasoning.' The chess group
(complete beginners) received chess lessons
two or three times a week (eight months).
 48
Margulies,S. (1992), Margulies,S.
(1996), The effect of chess on reading
scores. The chess group (mid-
elementary school children in the
South Bronx, New York) made
significant improvements in reading
scores compared with the control
groups (national and school district
averages). The chess group met for
two years.
McDonald, Patrick (2006?), The
Benefits of Chess in Education, A
Collection of Studies and Papers on
Chess and Education. A very useful
compilation of more than 20 papers
and a guide to further resources.
Nash, Damian (2011), Making Chess
Attractive to Educators in the
Classroom, A New Approach To
Curriculum. A curriculum model that
can be used to teach higher order
thinking skills directly. Chess is the
primary visual metaphor but chess
ability is not the end product.
Moura Netto, Charles (2011), Chess
that Brings Freedom. This
inspirational program involves 2250
prisoners in 22 Brazilian jails.
Noir, Michel (2002), Le Développement des
habiletés cognitives de l'enfant par la pratique du
jeu d'échecs. Noir's doctoral thesis (University of
Lyon). An important source for background,
information and research in France.
Parr, Teresa (2011), Exploring Why Chess
Works. An introduction to the 2011-2014 study
“Exploring the Malleability of Executive Control”
funded ($1,049,094) by the U.S. Department of
Education that will test the hypothesis that chess
improves performance in a broad range of
academic subjects. A preliminary report is
expected in the autumn of 2012.
Romano, Barbara (2012), Does Playing Chess
Improve Math Learning? Promising (And
Inexpensive) Results From Italy. Yes, it does is
the conclusion, especially if the child is foreign
born or living in the disadvantaged South of Italy.
Root, Alexey W. (2006), Children and Chess: A
Guide for Educators, Teacher Ideas Press,
Libraries Unlimited, Westport CT. One of the first
books to show the connection between accepted
educational theories and chess. It includes
lesson plans teachers can use, and from which
they can learn the basics of the game. Since the
plans meet academic goals through chess,
teachers also learn that chess can be a part of
reading, mathematics, science and social
studies. An appendix shows how chess meets the
requirements of curriculum standards.
Trinchero, Roberto (2012), Chess as a cognitive
training ground. Six years of trials in primary
schools. This document presents the results of
six years (from 2005 to 2011) of trials in primary
schools of different chess training strategies and
a study of the relationship between chess training
and improved skills and abilities of children. The
results, in line with other studies, demonstrated
several benefits (see also Romano above).
 Dr Karan Singh
Indian Ambassador to
UNESCO
Chancellor of NIIT University
“Learning is a lifelong experience”
H.E. Nelson Mandela
“It always seems impossible,
until it is done.”

Address to NIIT University,

12 November 2011,
where he insisted that the
concept of "world as one family"
is the only way to go forward,
which echoes FIDE's
motto of Gens Una Sumus.

FIDE Chess in Schools

 FIDE Secretariat
Phone: (30)210-921 20 47
Fax: (30)210-921 28 59
www.fide.com
e-mail: office@fide.com
9 Siggrou Avenue, Athens, Greece 11743