Why You Should Start a Chess Club in Your School!

1. Why You Should Start a Chess Club in Your School! 1. Learning to play chess exercises your brain and helps you become smarter. 2. The United States Chess Federation (USCF) publishes a kids Chess magazine. 3. School Chess programs are all across the United States & can raise their test scores by 20%.

2. More Reasons Why You Should Start a Chess Club in Your School! 4. The USCF supports Chess programs for schools, veterans and hospitals, nationwide, through the U.S. Chess Trust. 5. Chess Life for Kids is geared to our new members under age 13, and contains chess news and information and kid-specific games, puzzles and much more. 6. Our single biggest objective is to get youngsters involved in learning to play Chess. 7. In schools where Chess has been added to the curriculum, students have scored higher on tests and made better grades.

3. Here Are Three More Reasons Why You Should Start a Chess Club in Your School! 8. Problem solving, consequences for actions, and strategic thinking are all outgrowths of learning Chess. 9. There are over 1,900 colleges and universities that have Chess scholarships. 10. There are prestigious universities that offer full-ride scholarships to expert level students.

4. USCF “Chess for Youth Program” U. S. Chess, a not-for-profit association of more than 90,000 members, exists to educate and instruct the public about Chess. The U.S. Chess Trust’s primary mission is to ensure a chess-learning opportunity for school children. The “Chess for Youth Program” provides 5 FREE starter packages of chess sets and boards to help school programs get started. The “Chess for Youth Program” also provides provisions of 10 FREE USCF memberships per school for students who are attending a Title 1 School, and have never been a USCF member.

5. “Chess For Youth Program” Facts 1. Playing Chess has proven to help students enhance their creativity, improve their power of concentration, develop and expand critical thinking skills, boost memory and retention, and achieve superior academic performance. 2. Chess has been shown to augment problem-solving capabilities, provide cultural enrichment, advance intellectual maturity, and enhance self-esteem. We know that these are qualities that all school administrators, parents, and teachers desire for their students.

6. More Facts about the “Chess for Youth Program” 3. The U.S. Chess Trust’s “Chess for Youth Program” operates under a very simple premise - chess makes kids smarter and should be an opportunity that’s available to all students across the country. We can help establish, or continue, your chess program. 4. The Chess Trust provides FREE U.S. Chess Federation memberships and Chess playing equipment to support Chess education programs across the nation. 5. Programs are carried out in the field by dedicated volunteers and teachers who give their time and expertise, and run Chess programs in schools, community groups, and organizations.

7. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards Content Standards explicitly describe the content that students should learn: 1. Number & Operations standard 2. Algebra standard 3. Geometry standard 4. Measurement standard 5. Data Analysis & Probability standard

8. Process Standards Highlight ways of acquiring and using content knowledge 1. Problem Solving Standard 2. Reasoning & Proof Standard 3. Communication Standard 4. Connections Standard 5. Representation Standard

9. Some Facts on How Chess Correlates to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards 1. Math concepts can be introduced through chess. When taught to younger students, chess should be mainly used to reinforce mathematical concepts. 2. The chess course should be taught in a fairly condensed fashion so the students don’t have time to forget what they have already learned. 3. The concept of material in chess relates to the values of the individual pieces ( pawn =1, knight = 3, bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9). 4. Chess has a strong correlation to the Algebra standard. To play Chess well, you must become proficient in predicting the results of each move.

10. Chess and Mathematical Standards 1. Chess is a great vehicle for learning two-dimensional geometry. Geometry concepts occur all over the 8x8 or 64-square chessboard. Algebraic chess notation is the concept of using ordered pairs to describe location on a coordinate plane. 2. The concept of the x,y coordinate plane, which is normally taught in school around third grade, can be understood by students in kindergarten or first grade. 3. Problem-Solving standard: Chess is frequently referenced as the ultimate test of a person’s ability to calculate and analyze data to solve a mental problem. 4. Mastering critical thought processes in chess play epitomizes critical thinking, calculation and reasoning. Pattern recognition, understanding and predicting the likely results of actions link heavily to the Algebra Standard, Data Analysis and Probability Standard.

11. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Follow the Masters through books or videos, or their biographies on TV like A&E or E! for whatever skill you want to learn or already have.Birds of a feather flock together: you become like the people you hang out with. Be careful whom you hang out with, only hang out with positive-minded people and like-minded goals. Negative people will hold you back, pull you down and definitely prevent you from achieving your goals.

12. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Work within the rules. Rules create order, and order creates a safe environment for people to live, succeed and be happy. Working within a set of rules makes you smarter and more creative. It forces you to find answers and solutions when things don’t line up your way. If you’re going to win the game of life, you have to understand the rules. You have to know the penalties associated with breaking those rules, and the rewards for following them. Every time you make a choice between following a rule, or ignoring it to do what you want, you are really making a choice between order and disorder.

13. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Perfect Practice. The old saying of Practice makes perfect is incorrect. Perfect Practice makes Perfect. The quality of time spent is more important than the amount of time spent. Practice should be as much a process of thought as a process of actions. Simple actions repeated on a daily basis help develop the right habits and eliminating the wrong ones. Habits don’t form by themselves, but you can help keep them from forming. Build on the good ones and tear down the bad ones. Watch the moves other people make; never underestimate your opponent at any time. Most wars were lost and bad guys got away because of underestimating their opponents. You can’t control the wind but you can control the set of your sails.

14. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Respect Your Opponents. Competition is everywhere, all of the time, especially in today’s world. For jobs, resources, in classrooms, in sports, everywhere. In winning you can become their teacher, in losing, you learn to be humble. Visualize, visualize things first before making decisions. Everything starts in your mind. If you imagine yourself doing something well, you are more likely to actually achieve that level of skill. Visualization is a technique that is used by successful people in all fields because they know how powerful it is.

15. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Know your strengths and weaknesses. One of our purposes in life is to discover where we have skill and where we lack it. Some people have more than one skill, multiple skills where others may only have 1 or 2 and have a difficult time discovering what they are. Go the Extra Mile in everything you do and you will never be disappointed with the results. Nobody can push you as hard to accomplish as much as you can push yourself to achieve. Pushing yourself to become skilled at almost anything worthwhile takes time and discipline and a lot of hard work. Self education works wonders. Work harder on yourself to improve.

16. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Always look for a better move. We often act before we’ve even thought about our options. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we have options. Sometimes the best move is actually no move at all. Start looking more deeply into your life options. Creative decision-making will take you to places you never dreamed. Develop that creativity by always looking for as many options as you can.

17. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Every action has a consequence. Every move you make influences another move, maybe not immediately but somewhere down the road that initial decision will come back and either open or slam shut another option. Positive actions, good moves will eventually lead to positive outcomes. Negative actions or bad moves, will eventually lead to negative outcomes. Either way there will always be some effect. Choose your actions carefully, and do your best to make sure that your choices are positive ones. Sooner or later, you will feel the effects.

18. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons The right move at the right time. Life gives us wonderful opportunities, but we don’t take advantage of them until it’s too late. Knowing what moves to make isn’t enough. You have to know when to make them. You may have been on to something, but timing is always part of the bigger picture. Timing is everything! Sometimes it’s not that your moves are bad, but the point at which you choose to make them was wrong. Timing is Everything!

19. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Think strategically. The most successful people in the world all have something very simple in common: they plan. You have to set goals then move towards them one step at a time. You should always have a plan or a game plan, this gives you direction to follow. Otherwise you’re going to wander aimlessly, hoping that things will work themselves out. If you continue to do what you’ve always done, then you’re going to get what you’ve always got. If you want things to change then YOU have to change. The bottom line is that a strategy, a plan, gives you control. Control leads to confidence. Confidence leads to success. Use all your resources. Books are the greatest resource of all. It’s very important to stop, think, and figure out how to make the best use of what you have available.

20. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Learn from losing. Losing never feels good, but most people don’t understand is that it doesn’t have to be a bad feeling either. The effect that losing has on you depends on your attitude. Attitude is the scale you use to weigh the events that you experience. If your scale is out of balance, all of your measurements will be off. Approach your whole life in the way that your failures and losses are really just opportunities in disguise – opportunities to learn, to grow and improve. It’s better to lose and learn something than to win and learn nothing. Recognize patterns. Patterns are like body language. Body language gives a great indicator of what is getting ready to happen. But only if you’re paying attention.

21. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Work Together. Team concepts usually work out better than individuals. Each member will bring their own individual strengths, abilities and knowledge to the job. The more tightly, cooperatively and efficiently the group works together, the more likely their combined skills will add up, and the more likely that they’ll cover each other’s weaknesses.

22. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Concentrate. Albert Einstein was one of the smartest people who ever lived. The secret to his successes was not only because of his high IQ but his remarkable ability to concentrate and stay focused. The first step is to be patient and calm. Don’t become anxious or impatient. Don’t let fear, doubt, suspicion or anger influence your decisions. Distraction is what keeps us from finishing what we start, from succeeding, or from even attempting new achievements in the first place. Plan your work and work your plan.

23. Chess Teaches Kids 20 of Life’s Lessons Take risks. Let’s clarify this to say calculated risks. Decisions that you’ve thought about and have seen the victorious end result in your mind, then take that risk. Down but never out. No matter how hopeless your situation looks, never give up because other options are always available. The people that come back just when things look the worst are the ones that never quit, but stayed calm, looked over their situation and re-evaluated their situation and came up with a better strategy and acted upon it.

24. 13 States offer Chess Scholarships • A quick Internet search yielded the following facts of information: Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas. • 22 Colleges currently offer Chess Scholarships in the U.S. • Texas has 7 colleges & Universities that offer Chess Scholarships. There are over 1,900 colleges and universities that have Chess scholarships.

25. Benefits of ChessPlanning * Confidence * Patience * Discipline "According to research, Test scores improved by 17.3% for students regularly engaged in chess classes, compared with only 4.6% for children participating in other forms of enriched activities," states 4-time World Champion Susan Polgar in a recent interview. In approximately 30 nations across the globe, including Brazil, China, Venezuela, Italy, Israel, Russia and Greece, etc., chess is incorporated into the country's scholastic curriculum. Just as athletics are a part of the required agenda at schools in the United States, Chess has been that way in the European Nations abroad.

26. Cognitive Benefits Chess has long been regarded as a game that can have beneficial effects on learning on development, especially when it is played from a young age. below are some of the most critical benefits that chess can provide to a child:Develop analytical, synthetic and decision-making skills, which they can transfer to real life.Learn to engage in deep and thorough chess research which will help them build their confidence in their ability to do academic research.

27. MoreCognitive Benefits Help children gain insights into the nature of competition which will help them in any competitive endeavor.When youngsters play chess they must call upon higher-order thinking skills, analyze actions and consequences, and visualize future possibilities.In countries where chess is offered widely in schools, students exhibit excellence in the ability to recognize complex patterns and consequently excel in math and science.

28. Research & Studies Countless researchers and studies have shown over the years that chess does indeed strengthen a child's mental clarity, fortitude, stability, and overall health. Many schools are now finding chess as an inexpensive but essential way of helping kids grow mentally. In this technologically driven world, chess helps aid in the synthesis and growth of certain areas in the brain and mind where many children can benefit as they grow older from the game.

29. Research & Studies "Chess is in many ways like life itself." "It's all condensed in a playful manner in a game format and it's extremely fascinating because first of all I'm in control of my own destiny, I'm in charge. You have to be responsible for your actions, you make a move, you had better think ahead about what's going to happen, not after it happens, because then it's too late. Chess teaches discipline from a very early age. It teaches you to have a plan and to plan ahead. If you do that, you'll be rewarded; if you break the rules, you will get punished in life and in chess. You need to learn the rules to break the rules." - Susan Polgar, 4 time World Champion and founder of the Susan Polgar Foundation.

30. Final Thoughts This is some of the most compelling research and facts as to why kids need to be involved with Chess. Sponsors pay for the Regulation Chess sets and furnish the space so the cost to the kids is Zero! For more information & Chess Demonstrations: Bill Warren 757-851-2791 WWarren3@Cox.Net