A Tech-proposed UIL chess puzzle-solving competition to be statewide pilot program

A Tech-proposed UIL chess puzzle-solving competition to be statewide pilot program
Posted: November 13, 2010 - 12:11am
By Joe Gulick
Avalanche-Journal

Chess, one of the most competitive games in the world, will be the subject of a University Interscholastic League competition next year for elementary and middle school students in a pilot program proposed by Texas Tech and designed by Susan Polgar, Tech’s chess grandmaster.

The competition will not involve actual games of chess but solving chess puzzles designed by Polgar, who is the founder of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at Tech.

Students in grades 2 through 8 will have 20 puzzles to solve in a 30-minute period, Polgar said.

“Every single move in chess is problem-solving,” she said. “Each move is a new problem to solve.”

Polgar and Lynn Elms, the UIL regional director, noted the pilot program is a historic moment for Texas Tech, which has been associated with UIL for at least 75 years.

“This is the first competition that Texas Tech has ever proposed. We are pleased Susan and something as exciting as chess is involved,” Elms said.

The Chess Puzzle Solving competition will be presented in diagrams similar to the ones that appear in Polgar’s weekly Avalanche-Journal column, but the puzzles will be ones designed for younger players, Polgar said.

The elementary students will choose from multiple choice answers in which white can checkmate black in one move. Older students will have some puzzles that are checkmates in one move and others that are checkmates in two moves.

“I believe chess can help children improve their thinking skills in general. It can help their discipline and improve their self-confidence. Chess is a wonderful tool in building relationships,” Polgar said.

Last January, Polgar presented the proposal to the UIL State Legislative Council in Austin. That resulted in a mini-pilot program this year in Lubbock, Laredo and Corpus Christi.

The UIL Legislative Council in October determined Chess Puzzle Solving would next be a statewide pilot program, which means all schools will have the opportunity to compete, said Elms. All of the Houston schools have committed to the competition, and they are expecting good participation from other schools in the state, she said.

If it is successful, the pilot program could become an annual UIL event by September 2012, Elms said, and they are also hopeful Chess Puzzle Solving competitions for high school students would be added later.

College scholarships for skilled chess players are available, Elms said.

“It can be a way for kids to get more dollars to come to school — to compete in college. But that’s way down the road. We have to take care of second through eighth grades first,” Elms said.

Chess is a natural subject for competition among students because it is a great educational tool and an equalizer, Polgar said.

“In chess, children are forced to think before they act,” she said.

The game is also an inexpensive activity, Polgar said. Rather than activities that require expensive equipment or musical instruments, chess can be played on a very modestly priced set.

Source: Avalanche Journal

South African Zuma urges school children to play chess

Zuma urges school children to play chess
Monday, October 25, 2010 - 09:32

Pretoria - Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president has urged school children to play chess, "We want to convince parents and teachers that chess is one of the most powerful educational tools available to strengthen and enhance a child's mind," Zuma said at the Moves for LIfe Chess Programme on Sunday.

Shockingly, one thing very few people know about Jacob Zuma is that he himself is also a chess player and believes that chess is a "serious sport". "It is an important game in many respects, the main benefit being that it contributes to the development of strategic thinking as well as concentration, analytical skills and problem solving. These are traits that are important for school going children," said Zuma.

One thing he is right about is that the game of chess stood the test of time and still does, remaining one of the best mind building games there is even with today's technology. "No amount of video games can teach a child the same level of patience, strategic thinking, concentration, analytical skills and the attention to detail that they would gain from this timeless intellectual game."

The good news is that the government said they will do everything they can to promote the playing of chess and to create a culture where people play chess "We will play our part as government. Both the Departments of Basic Education as well as Sports and Recreation are involved and already working to promote the game," said the President.

Source: http://fromtheold.com

Chess in Education Success

Chess boom in Turkey

I recently had a chance to sit down with Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici, President of the Turkish Chess Federation, during the Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad. I first met him in 2004 at the Calvia Chess Olympiad. Since then, he has done tremendous things for chess in Turkey, especially in the arena of scholastic chess. Here is the summary of our chat.

The president of the Turkish Chess Federation (TCF) Ali Nihat Yazici had a dream, which had become a real fairytale story.

In 2002 Ali on behalf of the TCF approached the minister of education of Turkey with the idea of introducing chess in the schools. At that meeting, he was asked, what is his goal with the project?

He made a “blunder” by responding with the question: “Can you imagine Turkey having the next Karpov or the next Kasparov?” His dream was rejected at that time. However, he learned his lesson. He realized that the approach had to be modified.

Ali had to wait over two years before he got the next opportunity to present the “new plan” to the next minister of education. He was asking for an appointment for over two years. One night out of nowhere he received a phone call from a contact to come and meet in ten minutes. The minister was having kebab with the contact and he was willing to give Ali ten minutes! He was on his way immediately. When Ali met the minister, he presented the idea of chess in the schools to help educate the next generation of Turkish children to grow up more intelligent.

After his presentation, the minister said thank you and told him that it sounded very interesting. He said he will be in touch. Ali left the restaurant and thought sure the minister will call…one day.

To his biggest surprise, the next morning shortly after nine, his phone rang. It was an unknown number. It was no other than the minister who he met the previous night. The minister invited him to meet and discuss the idea further. As Ali was driving at that moment, he almost caused a mass accident in his (pleasant) shock.

Well that was 2005, the year when chess was introduced for the first time in some Turkish schools. Since that time, the number of school children involved in the chess program grew to 2,250,000 in over 10,000 schools, with around 50,000 chess teachers! Mind boggling numbers!

The TCF chess in the school project currently receives 1.5 million euro in governmental support. That is a huge number! However, through the various forms of taxes, the project also generated 1.8 million in revenues for the government.

In addition to the support from the public sector, the TCF succeeded in attracting major contribution from the private sector. Since 2005 IS Bank supports scholastic chess with 1.6 million Euros to enable schools in need to also introduce chess to underprivileged children.

The TCF has developed its own teaching manuals and recommended learning materials for students. 300,000 of the first edition of the student “source-book” was printed by the non-profit branch of the TCF, Satranc. Many doubted Ali’s decision at the time, asking “what will we do with all those copies?” Since then, over two million copies were sold, and it became a major source of revenue for the project.

In Turkey, chess for the past five years has been a part of the curriculum as an elective. There are only four elective subjects: art, painting, religion (general) and chess. The children who chose chess as an elective learn it two hours a week throughout the entire 32 week school year.

This year in the city of Burdur (west of Turkey) the Turkish Chess Federation started a pilot project with kindergarten age children, starting at age four. So far it was very well received, and the TCF has donated already 10,000 chess sets and boards to the project.

While the above project mostly focuses on the social benefits of chess as a side effect, a certain percentage of kids naturally will take a more serious interest in the game and desire to compete. At Turkey’s 2009 scholastic championship, 30,000 school children took part. There are around 1,300 chess clubs in Turkey today. 14 of them compete in the first division. Each of those clubs receives 12,500 euro support yearly from the TCF. The TCF currently has 200,000 paid members, including 60,000 rated players.

In the first division team league, many of the players have contracts guided by the template designed by TCF. The league is designed after the most successful professional sport in Turkey, which is soccer.

While historically Turkey hasn’t been known as a country with much chess traditions, in the past decade or two it made leaps of progress. Today Turkey can pride itself with having 4 home-grown Grandmasters and 12 International Masters.

A very impressive story! Certainly today Turkey is a place to learn from and an example to follow for any country which would like to see chess being a part of the curriculum.

Congratulations to the Turkish Chess Federation and personally to Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici for the job well done!

The benefits of chess: a CBS TV report

Click here http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=79985@wcbs.dayport.com or on the image to see the CBS TV clip.

Scientific conference: Chess should be taught at elementary classes

Scientific conference: Chess should be taught at elementary classes

Scientific conference: Chess should be taught at elementary classes
February 01, 2010

On the last day of January research and practice conference “Chess as an innovating school subject in educational system” started within the framework of international Moscow Open chess festival. Greeting speeches from RSSU rector Vasily Zhukov, the Federation Council and others government structure was read out to participants.

The head of the “pedagogic and chess work organization” department RSSU Aleksandr Kostiev told about the successful undertaking – publishing the information from chess education conference, which took place in RSSU, and a publication of premiere collection “Project “Chess in RSSU”. Volume 1. International research and practice conference materials “Chess in Russian and World educational system” (2009).

The leitmotif of the conference was the article “Russian Chess Education” of the First President of Sakha Republic (Yakutia), deputy chairman of the Federation Council Mikhail Nikolaev. This article was quoted in many speeches.

Aleksandr Schegortsov, Doctor of Social Sciences, director of Federation Council chairman deputy secretariat, impressed the audience with his speech. He noticed that chess should be involved not only in life of each school, but in each family life.

Reports from regions-leaders of chess education were also of great interest. Methodist Tatiana Partys (Tomsk) and director of Internet-center of chess skills Galina Kovaleva (Khanty-Mansiysk) speeches and presentations covered a lot of methodical aspects of general compulsory education. The main feature of Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous area is using information technology during the chess lessons, the main feature of Tomsk district – narrow facility preparation to general compulsory education and good covering of compulsory schools. Guests from Tomsk brought the just published substantial collection “Problems and prospects of chess education development in Russia: All-Russian research-to-practice conference data”.

The report of the deputy director of the school №758 Elvira Umanskaya (Moscow) was about chess lesson characteristics for “The Teacher of the Year” contest and also about the quality of teaching chess at elementary school.

The speeches of Alexander Timofeev, Vladimir Mechitov and others were dedicated to different issues arising at chess lessons at comprehensive schools. There was no special mood – there was a constructive, quite tough and emotional conversation among specialists.

Nevertheless, all the speakers were of the same opinion that a chess lesson at school is very essential. It should be in the main draw of the lessons and chess should be taught at elementary classes.

Source: http://www.moscowchessopen.ru/press/press_6_eng.php

Beating the perception about chess

Chess for Success tournament tries to beat perceptions about the game

By Allan Brettman, The Oregonian
November 07, 2009, 6:32PM

Jerryd Bayless, Phillip Margolin and Susan Polgar. Remember those names.

Linda Hu and Camille Franklin don't know any of them, but they do know chess.

This morning, 8-year-old Hu, a Woodstock Elementary third-grader, and 9-year-old Franklin, a Vernon Elementary fourth-grader, hunched over a vinyl chess mat. Their rapid moves on the board and shoving arms somehow imitated a fencing match.

With countering claims of "check," it was over and Hu thrust her right arm in the air -- the signal to call a tournament judge.

In the bigger scheme of things, both Hu and Franklin, were victors, along with about 70 other participants in the girls-only Chess for Success practice tournament at Harold Oliver Primary.

The gymnasium floor in the school on Portland's east side was half filled with lunch tables covered with chess mats. Parents on folding chairs filled the other half.

Chess for Success executive director Julie Young watched the action from the perimeter.

Chess, she said, has long been perceived as a men's sport.

Today's event and Chess for Success try to erode that perception, though the nonprofit program has more boys than girls.

Other youth chess programs may emphasize strategy and the importance of winning. That's not Chess for Success' game.

"The main thing is," Young said, "we want it to be fun and social."

The program targets schools with a high proportion of children receiving free or reduced-price lunch. With the help of a Meyer Memorial Trust grant, it was launched in 1992 in nine schools. Today, it's in 87 far-flung schools, mostly in the metro area, and reaches about 3,400 children a year.

As for Bayless, Margolin and Polgar? All linked by chess, Young said.

Bayless is a Trail Blazers basketball player. Plays a mean game of chess, too, and along with Mona Lisa, he is one of the subjects of promotional posters for Chess for Success.

He's not a mollycoddler when it comes to playing the impressionable youngers.

"He plays to win," Young said.

Margolin of Portland seems to always have a best-selling thriller on The New York Times' list.

For 17 years, until June, he was president of Chess for Success. The novelist credits chess with transforming his approach to school as a young man.

"He says," Young said, "'We trick kids because they think they're just going to play a game and we teach them how to think.'"

And Polgar is regarded as among the best female chess players in the world.

The Hungarian native is director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Texas Tech University.

And she heads a foundation that promotes chess, her Web site says, "with all of its educational, social and competitive benefits ... for young people of all ages, especially girls."

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com

Bringing chess to Wolfforth Library

Kings & Queens: Wolfforth Library has made first move when it comes to chess
Posted by Karen Michael on September 11th, 2009

Kings and queens will now be regulars at the City of Wolfforth Library.

Two chess tables were donated to the library by iBookSwap in Lubbock.

“We’re pretty excited,” said Marie Evans, the founder of the Wolfforth Friends of the Library.

“Kids are not necessarily reading as much anymore, but they are playing computer games. A lot of kids are really not getting the development of their thinking skills that they should be getting,” said Evans.

The introduction of chess will help stimulate those cognitive skills, she said.

“It will also help them as they progress in other activities, classes in their school,” said Evans.

In playing a game, the students may not even realize the real benefit to their cognitive development, said Evans.

But the real draw for the library is pulling just a few more kids in.

“It’s just one more way we can pull these kids in, and if they’re in, they may also accidentally find a book to read,” said Evans.

Evans said eventually, the library hopes to offer chess classes for a “nominal fee.” She said having a fee ensures most people will show up for the class instead of deciding not to go at the last moment because it is free.

Instructors from the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Texas Tech will be available to teach the game, Evans said.

“We don’t have those set up yet, for a timed schedule, but we’re working on that. We’ve got a lot more to do on that, as far as it getting organized,” she said.

Judy Bryant, a counselor at Frenship Middle School, said she is excited to hear about the introduction of chess to the Wolfforth Library. Bryant helps run the chess club at FMS and offers chess to as many as 60 students during lunch a few days a week.

“There are so many good points about that,” she said.

Chess, she said, helps students to build self-esteem and get involved.

“Chess is a thinking game,” she said. “It just brings out the best in people, I think.

“I think it affects the brain in many different ways. You’ve got to learn strategy and problem solving,” she said, noting those are skills all students need to learn.

Parents also love for their kids to get involved in chess, she said.

In general, she said board games are also a good way for families to interact with each other.

“Board games are a very good way for families to turn off that TV,” she said.

The Wolfforth Friends of the Library will unveil the new children’s area shelving and chess tables at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the library. The Texas Tech chess group and Grandmaster Susan Polgar of SPICE will be in attendance to host demonstrations.

Source: http://www.frenshiptoday.com/