CHESS MAKES KIDS SMART
By Anne Graham

And, indeed, it really may. Read on.

"My dad got me interested in chess about one or two years ago," seven-year-old Elian Levatino of Germantown, Tennessee, relates. "I started getting to be good at it, and now I'm teaching a younger friend of mine who is in kindergarten and some other people at my school. I also went back and taught my dad everything I know."

It's not as big as Little League or ballet classes, but for many youngsters like Elian (who says he plays about ten games a day), chess is "neat," "fun," and "better than baseball." And even non-chess-playing parents seem to like what happens when kids and chess are introduced.

Beckie and Rick Levatino, Elians parents, first bought him a chess set two years ago when he was five. "Elian was having some problems in his Montessori school," Beckie relates. "I went to observe--they have the two-way mirrors--and saw that he rushed through the math and language-arts activities, trying always to be the first one to finish. I had also noticed that at home Elian seemed to be fascinated by the game shows on television, where the contestants are frantic to beat the clock I thought there might be some kind of connection."

Beckie Levatino also observed that in another section of the school, some children were allowed to go into a hallway and play a quiet game-checkers. "It occurred to me that checkers might slow down Elian a little, and we tried it with him. He played for a couple of weeks and seemed to like it well enough. But it wasn't until we bought the chess set and Rick showed him how to play that he changed his whole modus operandi.

"Elian realized immediately that it was going to take longer for him to play this game," his mother says. "There are a lot of things to think about. And Elian, who had never liked to play any game he couldn't win, lost a lot of games. Still, he continued to play. It was just a challenge. We feel chess has helped him immeasurably, especially in learning how to slow down and concentrate on one thing."

How to learn.

Chess has been challenging kids and adults all over the world for several centuries. Despite the game's image as a pastime for "brains," it is easy to learn. Most six- and seven-year-olds kids can pick up the basic rules quickly, and a few children learn to play as young as four.

Families get turned on to chess almost by accident in some instances. Mike Miller of Norfolk, Virginia, says his two boys picked up the game by reading the back of a cereal box'. "They didn't quite have all the moves straight," he recalls, "so I helped them. I had played a little in high school, and when the boys started playing a lot, I got interested again. Shortly after that, my wife, Sue, got involved. We all play 'now."

Dr. Dianne Horgan, a psychology professor at Memphis State University and mother of two young chess players, suggests that even parents who know nothing about the game can learn along with their children. "It can be fun for a parent and child to learn to play together," she states. "There's no real reason for parents to think they have to be experts before they can sit down and play with their kids."

Beginners first learn how the board should be turned (a whitesquare in the bottom right corner) and the names of the pieces. Each player starts the game with sixteen chessmen: one king, one queen, two bishops, two knights, two rooks, and eight pawns. One set of pieces is white, the other set is black.

Learning how the pieces move and capture other pieces takes only a few minutes, although most beginners haveto keep reminding themselves through the first few games. The objective is simply to checkmate the opposing king that is, to put the king in a position where he cannot escape capture.

Losses are inevitable at every level of play. Beginners competing against more experienced players can expect to lose hundreds of games, if they play enough. Players have to learn to accept losing and to concentrate on not making the same mistakes twice.

"You can't be put down when you lose," says thirteen-year-old Noah Spaulding of Radford, Virgirnia "You just keep on trying." A chess veteran, Noah compares the game to tennis. "if you talk to people who are chess masters, you can see what I mean," he says. "Either you attack, or you STAY back and WAIT FOR the other person to' make a mistake. When I was trying to improve my game, I learned not to make so many mistakes, to wait for the other person to make a mistake."

The hidden value.

The value of chess for children may be much more than entertainment and amusement. Many parents, teachers, researchers, and others are convinced that "Chess Makes Kids Smart" (a slogan coined by the United States Chess Federation) is much more than an empty public-relations promise.

Math teacher and chess-club sponsor Jan Brandt, a Richmond, Virginia, Mother of four, describes chess as "probably the best game there is for developing logical, precise thinking." In Brandt's view, chess also helps to encourage patience, sharp memory, the ability to concentrate, problemsolving skills, and the understanding that certain behaviors carry certain consequences,

Pete Shaw, a computer-science teacher, has taught hundreds of kids in Pulaski, Virginia, to play chess. "It's like turning on switches in their heads," he says. "You feel as though you can watch the brain working through a window. The game demands both inductive and deductive reasoning. You see the kid looking at a problem, breaking it down, then putting the whole thing back together. The process involves recall, analysis, judgment, and abstract reasoning."

A link between mathematics skills and chess skills has been suggested by some researchers in this field. Jeffrey Chesin, who teaches inner-city kids in Philadelphia, agrees that the thought processes in math and chess are similar. "But that's not the whole story," he adds. "Youngsters who are good in chess will probably be good in math or in any problem-solving situation," Chesin says, "but kids who excel in math will not necessarily be good chess players."

Children do not have to be particularly bright to enjoy chess. Chesin maintains. "The majority of the kids I work with would be considered 'average.' Some are below average. But they get interested, and they work hard at it. Determination is definitely a factor."

For some players, both children artistic. "Chess should be played creatively," Lubomir Kavalek of Reston, Virginia, maintains. Kavalek, one of the world's top players, believes that "while there is obviously a certain logic one should follow, there is room for intuition and fantasy, for original thought, for taking each situation as it comes, rather than always relying on particular rules."

Clubs and tournaments.

In some sections of the country, chess booms because of well-organized clubs. Adults who believe in chess and what it does for kids have worked to provide opportunities even for kindergarten students to team and play the game. While teachers are often the chess instructors and sponsors, many times parents or other adults assume part or all of the responsibilities.

Bob Cotter, an elementary-school teacher in Indianapolis, took his team of inner-ciry kids to a national chess tournament in 1983. "After we won the championship, the kids met President Reagan, traveled to Japan, and received all kinds of recognition."

Cotter began his program as an after-school learning activity "because these kids didn't have anything else." He believes playing chess has helped the youngsters not only academically, but socially. "For one thing, they see that it doesn't matter where you come from; if you set a goal and never lose sight of it, you can attain it."

Although Cotter's winning team members are all black and all male, he's convinced there is no difference in the chess potential of girls and. boys. 'At some point, I'd like to take a team of girls and win the national championship," he says.

Different kinds of players


Some adults involved in thegame say that while boys and girls are probably equal in overall chess-playing abilities, boys may excel in spatial tasks (which are a part of chess). Girls, on the other hand, may be more intuitive and creative. Although men have historically dominated the game, females of all ages seem to be playing now. Both sexes seemed to be about equally represented at many scholastic tournaments.

Children with special problems can also learn chess. Teacher Pete Shaw sees the game as away for emotionally disturbed children to learn and practice self-control. "I preach to them that the mind must control the body. If you don't follow the rules and control yourself, you lose. When there is a teacher or someone to continue reinforcing the concepts, chess works."

With mentally retarded children, Shaw stresses concentration and pattern. recognition. "In my mind, all.education is about learning to see and break down patterns. Chess gives these kids concrete examples of how to do this. It also helps to increase their attention span."

Not every child will like chess. Pete Shaw, who says his primary interest is educating children, encourages parents who may be considering chess as an appropriate activity "just to think about whether it would be good. for the child. It's only what chess can do for the child that's important We don't play chess for the sake .'of chess, but for the sake of the child.

At its highest levels, chess is a game of limitless complexity and depth. But the beauty of the game is that players at almost any level enjoy its surprises and challenges. The more one plays and learns about the game, the more absorbing it becomes, Chess players are often hooked for life.

The Marketing of Chess by Daaim Shabazz, Ph.D. The Chess Drum www.thechessdrum.net

Chess has become part of the mainstream of activities on the world stage as news stories are bombarded with quips and headlines using chess metaphors. Does this mean that chess has become more approachable or is it merely a fashion statement that people make to associate with an "intellectual" activity? In these days of gamesmanship, is chess being properly positioned to attract more enthusiasts? If not, what are some suggestions? Interesting questions. The Chess Myth One of the biggest problems with marketing chess is its supposed relationship with intellectualism. People simple feel intimidated by all the strange-looking pieces and the seemingly complex rules. Honestly, chess has little to do with the type of intelligence that people associate with being "smart." Chess relies more on spatial abilities, pattern recognition and memory. If chess were merely an intellectual exercise then the strongest players would be those with advanced degrees or some specialized skill. This is simply not the case. Chess is an activity that is played by about as diverse an audience as one can imagine. Travel to any given tournament in the U.S. and you will span all possibilities of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, personality, physical stature, educational attainment and social class.  It is perhaps the only competitive activity where an important millionaire business executive can meet an opponent who has just reached his/her 6th birthday, or even someone who appeared as if he were straight from a homeless shelter… certainly improbable events in the real world. Chess and Race However, chess is often cast in the media as some esoteric activity that only a select few can hope to master and is often used in racial propaganda. Racial classifications which note intelligence levels are often biased and skewed to reinforce existing paradigms and theories. In contemporary science, there is still the thought that people of African descent are superior in activities which require physical gifts, but are less accomplished in intellectual pursuits… despite a long history of inventive accomplishments within the Black Diaspora. One only needs to look as far as white supremacist websites extolling the intellectual differences between races. See "White Supremacists discuss Black Chess"

A rudimentary theory could be hypothesized that "since chess is an 'intellectual' activity and relatively few Blacks have mastered it, then Blacks are not intellectual. QED." There are many problems with this theorem, but the  most important uncontrollable factor is economics. Chess is not perceived as an activity that will earn the participant future returns despite the  investment of an inordinate amount of time in mastering its intricacies. Many decisions made by those in the Black Diaspora are based on cost-benefit analysis, so chess is not often considered an activity which measurably improves one's economic potential. In fact, tournaments tend to be very expensive (e.g., travel, hotel, entry fee, food expenses) and the potential returns are small. These issues are so much more acute since a large number of Blacks around the world are situated in the lower economic classes.

GM Maurice Ashley

I still hear people claim that "Black folks don't play chess" and there are few visible role models to break this mindset for Blacks. To date, Maurice Ashley is the world's only Black Grandmaster. As long as he is alone, he will be viewed as an "exceptional case" despite promising talent in the pipeline (e.g., Amon Simutowe, Robert Gwaze, Pontus Carlsson). Of course, chess is popular leisure activity throughout Africa, the Caribbean and Black America, but the economics of chess does not always allow for total immersion in its study. Economic and marketing support to reach wider audiences will be key in chess promotion. Chess and Education Scholastic chess has blossomed into a viable business model. The latest debate in the U.S. is whether chess promotion should be handled by non-chess sponsors or chess-oriented entities. Many of the largest scholastic activities in chess have been sponsored by large corporations who derive a benefit from their demonstration of corporate social and civic responsibility. Chess has been featured in many educational studies which prove that it is able to help children improve their spatial and cognitive abilities, pattern recognition, analytical skills and discipline. It has also been used as a way to develop social skills and to help assist in boosting self-esteem. However, there are critics to the trends of commercializing scholastic chess to the point of making it trivial.  An interesting point was made in Thomas Braunlich's essay, "Scholastics and the Soul of Chess," where he opined that chess should be promoted more for its long-lasting benefit than for its short-term "feel good" effects.  He discusses the fact that scholastic chess, in actuality, does not groom future Grandmasters, but is only used as a sort of revenue generating event and for marketing exposure. The point is… everyone wants to be affiliated with chess because it is considered "cool,"  but  grooming strong players is not on the agenda.

Chess and Marketing Scholastic chess events today are primarily about marketing for the sponsor and making the participating children feel good about accomplishing something. We continue to rave about a 6-year old player who knows how to move the pieces! We also hear about a young player who is declared the "national champion" after winning a trophy in a beginner's section. This well-intentioned media exposure can have negative consequences. The attrition rate for chess players is atrocious (especially among girls)  and players like Hikaru Nakamura is only notable player (of late) to have emerged from U.S. scholastic circles. Why do many of these young players quit chess shortly thereafter? Perhaps Braunlich's claim of   "trophy inflation" deserves merit:

When I won 3rd place in the 1977 U.S. Junior Open I got a simple little trophy of which I was very proud because only a few trophies were given out. But I wonder how a kid today feels about winning a big trophy for 23rd place in the under 1000 section of a scholastic national? Is he proud of it? Many chess players would consider it a symbol of mediocrity and chuck it! I'm no educator, but I can't help but wonder if it is really good for them to reward mediocrity so strongly. Who is the Real Champion? Much of the image of chess is often hoisted upon the shoulders of the sport's best player and/or the world champion. Is the fragmented chess world creating a lack of enthusiasm for chess as a viable sporting opportunity? The instability brought on by the lack of a unified World Championship cycle does make it very difficult to present chess as a sport worthy of lucrative and sustained sponsorship. The current crisis in the chess world has exposed problems in fundraising endeavors despite attempts at popularizing "Man vs. Machine" matches and other novelties. What company will invest in a sport that can claim to have several world championship matches in the same year? Besides the fiasco involving the Men's World Championship cycle, the women are not immune either. Last year, Antoneta Stefanova won the title of FIDE Women's World Champion. Months later that year, Almira Skripchenko of France and Irina Krush of the USA played in a match that was billed as "searching for the best woman chess player in the world." Zsuzsa Polgar is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the  Women's World Champion while her inactive sister can lay claim to being the world's highest rated woman (by more than 100 FIDE points). These scenarios represent a marketing nightmare for a chess company looking  for sponsorships.

What is to Be Done? There are constructive steps that can be taken to improve the image of chess. Media Companies… while chess helps develop cognition, discipline and analytical abilities, DO NOT market chess as an "intellectual" activity. It sends the wrong message. While mental faculties are used in acquiring chess prowess, it is not the same as the intelligence we associate with being academically gifted or "smart." A recent article stated, "Chess is not necessarily a game reserved for people with IQ scores on par with Einstein. In fact, chess strategy may rely more heavily on spatial processing than on logic and computational skills." It should be said however that those who have mastered chess possess superior abilities in analytical processing and pattern recognition. Managing Editors… hire a cadre of  journalists who know how to properly write on chess issues. Spare the worn-out quips and analogies (e.g., "Man Bytes Machine," "Bobby Fischer gets Checkmated") and get the facts straight. Too many mistakes perpetuate chess myths. Journalists… please do not get too excited over a 4-year old who plays chess. The rules of chess, when taught properly by a knowledgeable person, can be learned by almost anyone in one hour. Learning chess is one thing, but mastering chess is another. Interestingly, chess prowess is not determined by age. A 10-year old who has studied seriously for one year and competed in tournaments will beat a  much older player who has played casually for many decades. Thus, the common interview question, "How long have you been playing?" will not necessarily reveal one's skill level. Chess organizations… use chess-playing celebrities (e.g., Will Smith, Lennox Lewis) to help promote chess. These figures can promote the game in places where an average Grandmaster may fail. Grandmasters may not always make the best spokespersons. Chess media has to cover a variety of news from around the world and not merely the top 20 players in the world or the western nations. This reinforces the stereotype that only a select few can excel at chess. Chess needs to show broad appeal to be successful. Do not compare getting a Grandmaster title with getting a Ph.D. I've heard the ridiculous notion that getting a GM title is like getting two Ph.D. degrees. While both endeavors require a gargantuan mental effort, they are only minutely comparable due to their vastly different processes of attainment. When someone says they are a "chess champion" in an interview, report exactly what that means… do the background research. Stop giving out trophies to every child in scholastic tournaments! Use ribbons for the lesser prizes. Children may be quitting because they feel they've reached their potential. I recently had a student of mine tell  me, "I used to win chess trophies in middle school." I'm not sure what that means today. Spend more time in providing incentives for attending chess tournaments. Chess organizers have become stagnant in their business models with little or no change while Internet chess has taken over. Maurice Ashley's HB Global Chess tournament will change this. Fred Grunberg had a good model decades ago in Chicago with his "Put the Fun Back into Chess" tournaments. Get the unification process completed!! No… Kasparov is not the current World Champion. I suppose this is not the fault of journalists because not even chess players agree on this matter. With Kasparov's unfortunate retirement, this will taint the credibility of the world championship. However, refrain from billing every professional match as a "World Championship." This includes the "Man vs. Machine" matches.

These are just a few suggestions to correct some of the most common problems with the image of chess. Chess metaphors continue to be used in mainstream media and chess is still an apparatus (rightly or wrongly) used to measure intelligence. It appears as if chess does not receive support because of very basic misconceptions which can be corrected with a little effort.  People WANT to learn how to play chess, but they are often intimidated because of misleading information and misinformed people who perpetuate chess myths. Composed and Written: 18 March 2005