Intense Concentration Increases Alertness

Chess is an especially effective teaching tool.  It can equally challenge the minds of girls and boys, gifted and average, athletic and non-athletic, rich and poor.  It can teach children the importance of planning and the consequences of decisions.  It can further teach how to concentrate, how to win and lose gracefully, how to think logically and efficiently, and how to make tough and abstract decisions (Seymour and Norwood 1993).  At more advanced levels it can teach flexible planning since playing  well requires a coherent plan, yet not one that is rigidly followed regardless of the opponent’s response.  Chess can also build confidence and self-esteem without overinflating egos, as some losses are inevitable, even for world champions. Chess can potentially help teach underachieving gifted children how to study, perhaps even leaving them with a passion for learning.  Chess tournaments can, moreover, provide a natural setting for a gifted child to interact with other children of all ages, as many tournaments are not divided by age but by ability (unlike most school activities and many other sports).  It’s common to see a six-year-old playing a twelve-year-old, or a ten-year-old playing a seventeen-year-old.  Young players can also perform remarkably well in adult chess tournaments.  In 1999-2000 in Australia, for example, a thirteen-year-old won the New South Wales championship, a fourteen-year-old won the South Australian championship, a fifteen-year-old won the Queensland championship, and a thirteen-year-old tied for second in the Australian championship. Studying chess systematically has also been shown to raise students’ IQ scores, academic exam scores (Dullea 1982; Palm 1990; Ferguson 2000), as well as strengthen mathematical, language, and reading skills (Margulies 1991; Liptrap 1998; Ferguson 2000).  Tournament chess games, which involve clocks to limit the total time each player can use, are also a fun way to provide practice at making fast and accurate decisions under pressure, a skill that can help students cope with the similar pressures of school exams.  This is also a fun way to practise how to put the mind into high gear, where intense concentration increases alertness, efficiency of thought processes, and ultimately mental performance.