Conclusion

Playing video games is an established way to aid in the growth and development of children.
Games may be incorporated in the curriculum or they may be part of extra-curricular activities.
While games have benefits such as improving motor skills, instilling teamwork and social skills,
improving physical fitness, enhancing creativity, and personality development among others,
researchers have examined the impacts of games such as chess on outcomes such as intelligence
and scholastic performance. Many researchers have concluded that chess improves the problem-
solving, abstract thinking, reasoning, memory, critical thinking, concentration, analytical skills,
social skills, and cognitive abilities of children. However, the benefits of incorporating chess in
the curriculum decrease with time as the children become more acquainted with the game.
Furthermore, some research studies have concluded that playing chess has no significant impacts
on the intelligence or academic performance among children. The improvement in performance
may have been linked to other factors such as normal development. Although some studies
debunk the apparent benefits of introducing chess in curriculums, it is evident that there are
significant benefits from playing the game. More research is needed to establish the links
between chess and intelligence. Chess should therefore be introduced to school curriculums. It
should also be supplemented with other games or activities such as listening to Mozart in an
attempt to optimize the learning and development outcomes among children. More so, learning
chess provides children with skills they would otherwise lack if they were not taught the game.
Abstract
Chess is one of the games touted to increase intelligence and general academic

performance among children. However, the improved intelligence and performance in areas such

as reasoning, memory, and cognitive abilities may be attributed to other factors not necessarily

chess. Chess games should be introduced in the education program since it improves learners

thinking skills. Additionally, the game board improves creative thinking, which assists in solving

daily issues. Games such as chess improve inter-personal skills among children such as healthy

competition. Furthermore, chess can be played using computers which allows it to be introduced

to a wide variety of school environments without requiring substantial investment in funds.

Children are likely to benefit from introduction of the game which are played virtually on

computer infrastructure. Although there are studies that establish no correlation between playing

chess and intelligence, there are no established adverse effects of playing the game. Therefore,
introducing chess in schools ‘curriculum would present a wide range of benefits that aid in the

development of children, socially, physically, and mentally.

Comments

Finding scholarly articles on the topic was one of the most challenging aspects related to

this paper. Some of the scholarly papers required subscription to accounts as well as monetary

purchases. Apart from that, the papers conducted studies to establish the relationship between

games and a variety of factors. Narrowing down the scope of the study was another challenging

component. The easiest part of the project was completing the write-up after conducting

background research and establishing research objectives. The course has been beneficial in

introducing certain concepts about research methods and writing a research paper. Research

papers differ from other conventional writing projects in several ways. Research projects have

thesis statements around which the research is centered. I have also learned how to examine past

literature during the review which is necessary to establish gaps in research and inform the

course of the other parts of the project. Citing any work that was involved in the research is

another component of research project that I was unaware of before. I have learned that I can

learn skills necessary in developing more comprehensive research project later on in my studies.

I would like to share the value of following instructions in the process of developing a research

paper to students who will take the course after me. It is also essential to avoid plagiarism and to

cite any works referenced in the project. The concepts in this course can be applied in solving

real-world problems later on in my career. For instance, in this case, the research problem could

be examining the impact of chess training on academic performance among middle-schoolers.