Why should your child learn to play chess? Studies have shown that the benefits of learning chess are multiple, ranging from the academic to the interpersonal and encompassing both the cognitive and non-cognitive. And – best of all – chess is a hobby that can last a lifetime!
Here are some links to studies and other materials that make very clear the advantages of chess for your child.
- The Saint Louis Chess Club commissioned and authored a report which found that “…the participation in chess programs, whether designed as in-school or after-school programs, resulted in improved academic, cognitive, and/or behavioral outcomes for school-aged children.”
- The Saint Louis Chess Club also offers a summary of multiple studies on chess and education at their Research Portal.
- Paul Tough’s much-lauded book How Children Succeed devotes a chapter to chess and the cultivation of character and grit. See an excerpt at Tough’s website, and for a broader discussion of chess and learning outcomes, see Shane Parrish’s “How to Think.”
- The US Chess Trust offers an older survey and summary of existing literature.
John Hartmann 