Chess in School

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"The exciting part, educationally, is the discovery that children who learn chess at an early age achieve more in the traditional math and sciences. Chinese, European, and American research all find significant correlational values after just one year of systematic chess exposure. The most striking benefits of chess are those associated with problem solving and creativity. A four-year Pennsylvania study compared the effect of various enrichment techniques on student scores on standardized tests. On the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, non-chess enrichment showed an average annual increase effect of 4.56%. Chess groups' annual increase effects weighed in at 17.3%. The York Board became the first English board in Canada to add chess to the curriculum. In December, New Jersey became the first US state to legislate chess into the curriculum starting in 1993. The United States now joins Quebec and New Brunswick and 29 other countries in the world in deploying chess systematically to develop thinking." –

Canadian Education Association Newsletter: June 1993