Raising a Chess Champion: 5 Skills Chess Teaches Children
Guest Blogger-Anita Ginsburg
As a parent, it’s your job to prepare your kids for the world, and you likely feel that pressure acutely. However, this doesn’t mean that you always have to teach life lessons with heavy conversation. One of the best ways for kids to learn in low-pressure settings is through games. There are a lot of games made specifically for kids, but you shouldn’t limit them to those. Chess, a game that many consider to be for adults, is a great way to teach your child many skills that they will use throughout life.
Sportsmanship
When it comes to the game of chess, there’s always a winner and a loser. This definitive ending allows for your child to develop sportsmanship. This is a major asset to have going forward throughout life as they won’t take losses so hard. In fact, most children will find motivation in the loss and try harder to be victorious the next time.
Fosters Patience
Chess is a game that requires a lot of concentration and calculated moves to win. Your child will benefit greatly from involving themselves in it regularly. It’s been discovered that the average chess game takes about 40 moves. This is a long period of time that will test your child’s patience and help them develop it further.
Develops Calmness Under Pressure
Putting your child in a tense situation, such as the last few moves on the chessboard, is a great way to help them to develop calmness under pressure. You can help to develop this skill even more by having your child do timed online chess lessons where they’re under pressure for the entire game. Compare this to other activities, such as basketball, where your child may only experience pressure for the game-winning shot once or twice a year.
Abstract Reasoning
If you’ve ever watched skilled chess players, they tend to have similar patterns they utilize in each game. When your child starts to play chess regularly, they develop their abstract reasoning skills by recognizing patterns on the board. As they notice patterns, they can evaluate if-then strategies so they can plan their moves ahead of time.
Problem Solving
This skill can be utilized for so much throughout life. Chess is like a complex puzzle that your child must solve to win. By evaluating moves and their results, your child will learn how to problem-solve better. When it comes to adding timed games to their activities, it can develop the ability to allow them to problem solve on a whim.
Your children can learn a lot of life skills through simple activities. Chess is one of these activities that encourages mental and emotional development in your child. If your child hasn’t been introduced to chess, the above are five reasons you should get them playing.
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More About the Author
Anita is a freelance writer from Denver, CO. She studied at Colorado State University, and now writes articles about health, business, family and finance. A mother of two, she enjoys traveling with her family whenever she isn’t writing. You can follow her on Twitter @anitaginsburg or on Facebook.
Photos courtesy of Anita Ginsburg
