Chess and maths
Learning chess has many benefits, both educational and social. The links between chess and maths are well-established. Many studies have shown positive links between children learning chess through scholastic programmes and their general attainment in mathematics (see the first paper cited here for a recent example). The CSC curriculum has been designed both to deliver maths content directly and to develop children's mathematical skills.
Direct maths content
Our lesson plans contain large amounts of maths content particularly relevant to Key Stage 2:
Numeracy. Children are constantly practising basic numeracy while playing chess. We deliver a whole lesson on the value of the chess pieces (pawn=1, bishop/knight=3, rook=5, queen=9) and then encourage children to calculate the relative benefit of all captures available at each move. In addition, players need to be continuously aware of the live position on the board - are they ahead or behind on material?
Coordinates. It's impossible to describe chess moves without using the coordinates assigned to the chess board. We introduce these in Lesson One and encourage our pupils to use coordinates when answering our tutors' questions. We've recently introduced chess notation at an early stage of our curriculum to further embed this learning. Chess coordinates work in the same way as those on a map or graph and our children soon become comfortable using them.
Geometry. When teaching in lower KS2, we often find our teaching of the chessboard introduces children to basic geometric vocabulary: horizontal, vertical, rows, columns, diagonals. In addition, when teaching the tricky knight move, many of our tutors use an L-shaped piece of paper to lay on the chess board and then talk about rotations and reflections of that shape to generate all the possible moves.
Algorithms. There are various technical tasks in chess, especially when it comes to forcing checkmate. Our curriculum explicitly describes these as algorithms. For example, when delivering checkmate with a king and queen against a bare king, our pupils learn the Closing the Box method. At each step they investigate whether there's a way to reduce the size of the box in which their opponent's king is trapped. If there isn't, they move their own king closer ready to support their queen.
Basic proofs. When learning how the pieces move around a chessboard, our curriculum sets children various problems that require simple mathematical proofs. For example, can the children find a way to move a knight from the bottom left corner of the chessboard to the top right in six moves? Can they then prove that it's not possible to do this in five moves?
Mathematical skills
Every chess move is a puzzle to solve, a set of problems posed by your opponent. Throughout the game you have decisions to make, both strategic and tactical. These require players to look ahead and to think deeply. By playing chess, children in our programme are constantly practising and developing skills essential to maths and wider STEM subjects:
problem solving
logical thought
decision making
visualisation
concentration skills
By learning chess through the CSC Curriculum, children are developing critical skills as well as reinforcing their maths knowledge. Importantly, they are doing this while having fun playing a game. Studies have shown that learning chess can be particularly effective for children who are struggling to engage with their normal maths learning; the chess lessons give them an alternative learning route (see research from Denmark here).
