Chess courses for kids

The history of chess can be traced back around 1500 years to its earliest known predecessor – chatarung, which was a two-player war game played in India. The pieces represented four divisions of the military: infantry, cavalry, elephantry and chariotry. From India, the game spread to Persia, thereafter to the Muslim world and southern Europe. By the year 1000, the early form of chess was known across Russia and Europe. There is an alternative origin history that suggests that chess arose from xiangqi, a game played in Chinese from the 3rd century B.C.

The fact chess has continued to gain in popularity over 1500 years is a reflection of the ease of learning the rules and the ability for the game to be enjoyed from beginner level through to grandmaster. The International Chess Federation estimates there are 605 million chess players globally and around 360,000 active tournament players. Each month, the Federation ranks its top players with the current ranking suggesting that the United States, followed by Russia, then India boast the strongest chess players globally. Having said that, there are still top chess players in Hong Kong & Singapore – notably Jingyao Tin (SG), Wei Ming Kevin Goh (SG), Jagadeesh Siddharth (SG), Frank Van Hasselt (HK), Yu Dong Deng (HK), Daniel King Wai lam (HK).

Many parents encourage their children to learn chess because of the well-established cognitive benefits. In a famous study by Robert Ferguson of 4,000 Venezuelan students, he established that the IQ scores of children showed significant increases after four months of chess instruction and other research has also corroborated these results. Chess requires players to think ahead several moves in order to anticipate the opponent’s possible strategies and counter them accordingly. This helps children learn how to analyze problems from different angles while developing critical thinking abilities they can use outside of the boardroom too. Playing games like chess forces kids to focus on one task at hand without getting distracted or overwhelmed by other things going on around them. With regular practice comes increased attention span which will benefit them in school subjects as well. Chess also teaches patience when it comes to interacting with others; players must take turns making moves so they must learn how cooperate during gameplay rather than impulsively trying win every single time. Plus playing together allows parents/guardians a chance bond with their little ones too! Finally, when playing against someone else or even themselves, kids have opportunities explore unique strategies which encourages creative thinking beyond what may be taught traditionally in school curriculums etc.

Overall learning chess is great way introduce young minds to strategic thought processes while having fun doing so!

The benefits of chess for children & youth include

• improving memory
• deepening concentration skills and focus
• boosting planning, problem solving & strategic skills
• enhancing cognitive development
• improving ADHD symptoms
• teaching youth about handling competitive pressures, failure and ‘sportsmanship’
• improving resiliency by learning from defeat
• building confidence & engagement