Chess is a game of strategy and skill and it is believed to be connected to intellect. Players have
to quickly perform in-depth calculations, evaluation, visualization, and planning. These are
activities that are performed by the brain. Chess is popular around the world and now, children
and adults can play online. While this is a sedentary game, allowing your child to learn it can
make him or her smarter.
Here are five ways how chess can help your kid become smarter:
1. Improves Memory
Memory plays a big role in chess. Players have to remember moves not just in the present
game also in previous games. They also need to remember different tactics so that they can
come out of tricky situations. When children learn chess, it helps to strengthen their memory.
Improved memory can help not just in the game but also in their studies.
2. Boosts Concentration
A chess game can continue for hours, especially at a professional level. Players cannot afford to
get distracted as a moment’s distraction can cost them the game. When your child is playing
chess, they will have to focus and concentrate. That means blocking out ambient noises and
other sources of distraction. As a result, they improve their concentration and that will reflect
in their studies and examinations.
3. Improves Reading and Maths Skills
As strange as it may sound but if your child learns chess, it will help them strengthen their move
variables and problem-solving skills. This, in turn, helps to improve maths skills. Also, you may
wonder what chess has to do with reading. Well, both use similar cognitive processes. Chess
players have to think, decode, comprehend, and analyze – skills that they also need for reading.
4. Encourages Logical and Critical Thinking
When your child learns to play, they will have to think about all the possible moves that their
opponents could do if they make a single move. As a result, your child transforms into an if-
then thinker. This thinking process is nothing but logical and critical thinking. It enables them to
mentally process the possible moves that somebody can do, thereby training their mind for all
possibilities.
5. Improves Life Skills
Chess is a non-verbal game and players have to study the body language, expressions, and
gestures of their opponents to gauge their possible moves. Also, the game requires patience,
and hence, it helps control their impulses. Chess also requires players to make fast decisions.
These are skills that your child will be able to use outside of chess-playing, thereby helping
them succeed in different spheres of life.
Researchers have found that chess can help children become smarter. The game teaches them
to think analytically, solve problems, make calculated moves, and control their urge to be
impulsive. It also enhances their visual memory and reasoning skills. When your child develops
all these skills, they will be smarter than their peers and perform better academically and
beyond. Your child will be able to hold his/her own in a competitive world.
You can discover chess classes here.
Can you recommend chess classes for 12 year old?
I wish my daughter takes up chess.