Аuthor: Riho Liiva, riholiiva (at) hotmail.com

The pilot project on teaching chess at school that started last autumn in Estonia became so popular that this year chess will be taught already in at least 35 schools involving more than 1,500 children.
It was chess legend Garri Kasparov himself who helped to implement the project “Chess into Schools” in Estonia. Kasparov who through his foundation promotes chess studies in different parts of the whole world, says: “Chess not only changed my life, but also shaped my character.” Adding that in terms of education, it is no longer necessary for children to remember as much information as possible. “There is so much information available nowadays so the key is to teach children how to swim and successfully navigate in this sea of information. Chess is ideal in teaching such skills”.

The impact of chess at school was studied in a survey that included 100 schools in New York. Of 3,000 students who participated in the study, those who attended chess lessons also did best in math and native language. Teaching chess also improves attendance, as shown by analyses conducted in schools in Johannesburg (South Africa) and São Paulo (Brazil).

In November 2011, the international programme on introducing chess into schools that was launched by Garri Kasparov received strong endorsement also from the European Commission. Several European countries are now planning to start teaching chess at schools.

In the autumn 2012, about a dozen schools in Estonia launched a pilot project for teaching chess at schools which involved 650 students, mainly second-graders. The pilot project was co-financed by Garri Kasparov’s charitable donations collected through simul chess exhibitions and by other chess players. The pilot project was so successful that it is now also supported by the Ministry of Interior, which finds that chess is good for children’s development, and helps to prevent youth problems related to lack of hobbies. As a result, the project already involves 35 schools and more than 1,500 students.

“Estonians have always loved chess and have been very successful in chess, which is why it‘s no miracle that chess study has started so successfully,” explained Kasparov. “The success of the programme is also shown by the fact that children who started to study chess last autumn have become active young chess players and now attend chess classes,” added the chess legend.

The chess study programme developed by the Kasparov Chess Foundation is targeted at schoolchildren aged from 8 to 16. In the Estonian pilot project, chess lessons were started in the youngest age group. Under the programme, chess teachers are not required to have in-depth chess knowledge or special education and will be trained by the foundation.
“This may seem hard to believe, but many teachers had no significant skills of chess before they joined the programme,” explained Riho Liiva, the initiator of MTÜ Kasparov Chess Foundation who himself has been actively playing chess since childhood. “From the teachers’ viewpoint, teaching methods and materials are excellent and we had no major problems during the pilot project.” Chess is being taught both in Estonian and Russian and is available all over Estonia because there is at least once school in every Estonian county that has weekly chess lessons. Chess is also taught in after-school child-minding activities and the programme’s initiators hope that one day chess will become a select subject in Estonian schools.

“Children love chess so much that they even play it during recess,” said Margit Brokko, coordinator of the “Chess into Schools” programme. Speaking of the benefits of chess lessons, Brokko says that they include developing one’s cognitive skills such as critical thinking, improving focusing and sense of discipline, helping imagination, developing problem-solving skills and creating a positive competitive spirit. Chess-players also learn how to take responsibility for their decisions.
The biggest dream of chess legend Kasparov is to make chess a high-tech game so that it would also attract the next generation. His vision is to create a so-called Chess Facebook where children would not only play chess, but also communicate with each other, developing the other and equally important feature of chess - an excellent mean of communication.

Riho Liiva
November 2013
riholiiva (at) hotmail.com