Scholastic Benefits of Chess 

Chess is a solution-based game that has a positive impact on children’s cognitive 
skills, encourages inventive solutions and promotes imagination and creativity.​1 

INTRODUCTION 

An estimated 600,000,000 people play chess in the world,​2​ with​ ​some countries like 
Armenia even making chess a compulsory school subject.​3​ Researchers have been 
delving into the empirical merits of chess since the 70’s​4​ and there is renewed excitement 
as teachers and policymakers turn their attention to STEM (Science, Technology, 
Engineering and Math), and are​ using chess to further engage their students​​. The U.S. 
Department of Education in 2015 stated, “...It’s more important than ever for our youth 
to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to solve tough problems, gather and 
evaluate evidence, and make sense of information. These are the types of skills that 
students learn by studying science, technology, engineering, and math.”​5​ Chess is a 
solution-based game that is a wonderful compliment to and application of the STEM 
fields. We will review research below that shows learning and playing chess has a 
positive impact on children’s cognitive skills, encourages inventive solutions and 
promotes imagination and creativity.​1 

INTERVENTION STUDIES 

In 2014 an independent K-12 educational research firm, Basis Policy Research, reviewed 
chess studies from 1970-2014 to critically examine the documented effect of chess on 
academic performance. To be considered in the literature review, the study’s 

 
methodology must have been an intervention design with a proper control group. In 
addition, they needed to measure outcomes related to academic or cognitive 
improvements, not just improvements in chess. Twenty-four studies met this criteria and 
were used in the analysis. The cumulative results showed ​in-school chess interventions 
had a positive and statistically significant impact on mathematic and cognitive 
outcomes​​.”​4 

MATHEMATICS: A FURTHER LOOK 

Knowledge acquired through chess play most significantly transfers to the math domain.  
This seems intuitive, as the design and rules of chess are based upon principles of math. 
The chessboard consists of eight rows by eight columns, alternating color, and can be 
seen as a plane. There are six different types of pieces, each moving in a different 
direction, over a different amount of spaces. Players explore what they know about math 
to make beneficial combinations of moves and win the game.  
 

Since the intervention literature review 

was published in 2014, other reputable 
studies have further shown that chess can 
be an effective tool in improving 
mathematical capacity in young 
students.​6,7​ The figure to the left illustrates 
that after just 6 months of in-school chess 
instruction, chess students scored 11% 
higher than their peers in mathematical 
assessments. Interestingly, one study conducted in elementary schools found ​chess had 
a greater positive effect for children who were “bored” in school​​.8​​ Chess is an 
engaging way to approach mathematical concepts, providing an opportunity for an 
application and exploration of math skills for students both excelling or struggling with 
the material. And every grade level can use chess to reinforce various curriculum 
concepts: counting, multiplication, pattern recognition, the coordinate system and 
ordered planes, decision tree analysis, visualization in geometry, and even more as 
players advance and work through chess puzzles that are highly mathematical in nature.   

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COGNITION: CREATIVITY IN PROBLEM SOLVING 

“The game of chess possesses a developmentally appropriate pedagogical strategy that 

can systematically motivate school children into critical thinking”.​1​ How is that so? Chess 
is a closed system with defined rules, and thus a ​wonderful laboratory to experiment 
with and analyze problem-solving and decision making.​9​​ Players have an 
environment to practice planning ahead, generating play options, thinking abstractly, 
predicting outcomes and revising strategies as new information is found. Players are 
given a chance to think up any options they see fit, evaluate these options through 
visualization, and make a decision of their own volition. What a creatively empowering 
process! These thinking processes are the bedrock of cognition, so it seems intuitive that 
playing chess helps improve general cognition.​4 

The Common Core standards are “based on rigorous content and application of 
knowledge through higher-order thinking skills.”​10​ Many higher-order thinking skills are 
essential to chess. For example, predicting outcomes is a cognitively demanding task that 
students learn how to employ while playing chess. Before making a move, players are 
taught to imagine a series of actions and the predicted outcomes- this helps inform their 
decision about where to move. At first, students may only be able to see decisions one 
move ahead, but through training, students will be able to predict several moves ahead 
for more than one option. This thought process is essentially experimenting with 
different forms of indirect trial and error using decision tree analysis.  

Another strategy students are taught is to move fluidly from focusing on the details back 
to focusing on the whole picture. Players are better able to identify patterns and detect 
details that should inform revisions to their game plans. Sound familiar? This same 
method is often used in reading to understand themes in literature and is at the top of 
Bloom’s taxonomy of higher-order thinking.​11 

GRIT AND STRENGTH OF CHARACTER 

Chess requires persistence. Angela Duckworth, a psychologist at the University of 

Pennsylvania who studies self-control and grit, found that ​grit, or perseverance and 
passion, is more predictive of success than IQ​​.12​
​ “The idea of building grit and building 
self-control is that you get that through [learning to deal with] failure. And in most highly 
academic environments in the United States, no one fails anything.”​13​ A chess game is a 
safe zone for students to define their goals, attempt with persistence, re-evaluate their 

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plans amidst new circumstances, and, at the end of a game, win or lose, evaluate what 
they could have done better in their strategy.   

There is so much more qualitative material that speaks to the story of successful students 
beyond test scores and scientists from all kinds of disciplines are finding non-cognitive 
qualities to be more crucial in academic success than previously thought. Paul Tough, 
author of How Children Succeed said the following, “ The scientists whose work I 
followed for How Children Succeed have identified a very different set of skills that they 
believe are crucial to success. They include ​qualities like persistence, curiosity, 
conscientiousness, optimism, and self-control.​​ Economists call these non-cognitive 
skills. Psychologists call them personality traits. Neuroscientists sometimes use the term 
executive functions. The rest of us often sum them up with the word character.”​13 

The very nature of chess invites students to be observant and meditative- children 
cannot respond to what is happening unless they are paying attention. Then when 
making a move, it is to one’s advantage to think long and hard and not to move hastily. 
In fact, chess has been found to enhance concentration, patience, perseverance, as well 
as develop creativity, intuition, memory, and the ability to analyze and deduce ideas 
from a set of general principles.​14 

SOCIALIZATION AND FRIENDSHIP 

Chess is a great equalizer as there aren’t socio-economic barriers to entry. Indeed, in 
schools or communities, chess can serve as a bridge, bringing together players of 
different ages, races and genders. Just as STEM programs are strongly encouraging girls 
to feel included and engaged, so too is chess trying to ensure girls feel they have a place 
at the table through special all-girl tournaments and other thoughtful programming.​15 
But for boys and girls alike, research shows that playing the game of chess facilitates 
friendships and promotes cooperative pro-social behaviors and attitudes.​16​ Perhaps this 
seems intuitive, as the associations and images of chess culture brings to mind players 
shaking hands at the start and end of a match and a quiet thoughtfulness during the 
game. Of course, there are many wonderful benefits, unmeasured but certainly seen 
firsthand, as students explore and learn together about a shared interest. Perhaps that is 
what is most exciting to chess educators, that at the end of the day students can find 
something that challenges them intellectually, strengthens character and invites 
wonderful experiences to build friendships. Perhaps for your students, that may be 
chess. 

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REFERENCES 
1. Mefoh, P.C., & Ugwu, L.E. (2014). Game of chess enhances critical thinking in school children : 
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Decision Science Institute, Lincoln, NE. 
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http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards [accessed Nov 11, 2018]. 
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[accessed Nov 11, 2018]. 
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Passion for Long-Term Goals 92(6):1087-101 DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087 Journal of 
personality and social psychology. 
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http://www.paultough.com/the-books/how-children-succeed/ [accessed Nov 07, 2018]. 
14. Dauvergne, Peter. (July 2000). The Case for Chess as a Tool to Develop Our Children’s Minds. 
University of Sydney. Available from: 
https://www.nswjcl.org.au/Resources/Dauvergne/PD_paper.pdf [accessed Nov 06, 2018]. 
15. Schweitzer, Jenny. (Aug 8, 2018). The Girls Fighting Stereotypes in the World of Scholastic 
Chess.[Online]. The New Yorker. Available from: 
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-girls-fighting-stereotypes-in-the-world-of-
scholastic-chess [accessed Nov 13, 2018]. 
16. Scott, Eric, & Panksepp, Jaak. (2003). Rough-and-tumble play in human children. Aggressive 
Behavior, 29, 539-551 

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