Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Benefits of Chess

DS12 has been playing chess competitively for about 4 years now. We are starting to see some significant benefits that we didn't think about when he started, that I wanted to share with the community.

1. Develops ability to think/study for many hours without tiring. When my son started, he would get mentally exhausted after two games that were up to an hour long. Now a single game can last up to six hours (in some national tournaments), and he can play two of them per day. He may fade some at the end of the second game, but he can probably go 8-10 hours per day of intense thinking.

2. Tests become easy. DS took the SAT last fall to qualify for Johns Hopkins SET. He found the 3 hour 45 minute exam "very relaxing", because that wasn't very long to concentrate, and he was allowed to take 3 breaks during the test.

3. Mental toughness. Chess has taught DS how to lose and stay composed. I know that competitive sports also provides the same benefits, but chess can be a good supplement/alternative for non-athletic kids.

There are other benefits as well, but #1 and #2 above were particularly unexpected.

Wow, six hours!

I'm glad to see you on the board, mithawk--my DS5 is continuing to progress in chess and I value your advice.

Thank you for the post. Both DC are taking chess and I've wondered whether there is a real benefit to having them continue.

I thought I was going to teach my son chess. I was hoping for a couple of months winning something. He was ahead when we quit our first game and I remembered even when I eve could play fairly well my end game sucked.

Coming up with a plan B now.

Your son can still play even if you're not very good. I'm terrible, and my son beats me 100% of the time (he first beat me at age 3). My husband is better than I am but still loses to DS about 60% of the time (he was a chess novice like me when we started with the game, but has worked much harder on his game, madly studying tactics on his phone). It's kind of fun for me to see my DH lose all the time--he's really good at everything!

Your son can learn from computer programs and apps--there are a lot. A club is better, though.

Thank you for the timely reminder on the benefits of chess, mithawk. My 6 year old has attended chess school for 2 years now - though we don't see any brilliant progress in chess, we have seen a noticeable improvement in visualization, thinking multiple steps ahead, weighing many factors simultaneously and abstract thinking.
I too have wondered if there are any real life benefits in taking chess classes because there are other activities that can provide similar benefits too. Your post is encouraging to me!

ETA: We also notice a drastic improvement in pattern recognition skills in the past year.

This is only a result of chess if you don't love tests in the first place.

I always though that the SAT was a fun experience.

I never had an interest in chess because it was extremely finite and struck me as somewhat boring.

Go is honestly probably a better game for what everybody is trying to accomplish here.

Granted, my idea of fun ran more toward card games and strategy games.

I think it is so important for people to find their thing.

My point is slightly different. Both DS & DD enjoy school and tests. But when DD (who doesn't play chess) took the test a few years ago, she was very tired at the end. DS was energized because it was fun and easy for him.


Perhaps chess is finite, but when you have to look 8-9 moves deep into a position to find the best move, visualizing the combinations is something I am incapable of, and something that my son has to think deeply about.

I've heard only good things about Go as well.

Your son might be ready for lessons.

I'm actually not trying to accomplish a particular brain-enhancing goal by having my kids play chess. (DD9 plays, too, though not competitively.) They enjoy it, and it seems to be a nice, productive hobby. DS REALLY enjoys it. That's good enough for me. It's great if it has other benefits, though. I'm not sure that I've yet seen any benefits extend to other areas for DS, but I suspect it's helped my DD--the skills it emphasizes are not her strongest (spatial memory/manipulation has never been her strong point, and it's one reason I'm so bad at the game), but she's rather driven to try to keep up with DS.

A downside to chess for our family is that DD is very aware of the lopsided sex ratio in the competitive scene and finds that a turnoff. I keep telling her that this is circular. She's now good enough from playing with DS that she could play on the team and do respectably in her age group (not spectacularly, but I think she would do okay), but she won't because she sees it as a nerdy, competitive boy activity.

Even worse, she admits to intentionally throwing games when playing her female friends at school (they don't play all the time like she does, so they are not very good). A savvy social strategy, perhaps, but man.

We're planning to start chess for DS7 in the Spring. He plays the Solitaire chess (Thinkfun game). Not the same thing, I know, but he's good! He knows how to move the pieces, but needs practice thinking more than 3 steps ahead.

The problem is he really NEEDS to learn to lose and not be BEST at things. I am thinking I will have to find someone else to teach/play with him but I am going to look into computer stuff too. I am thinking a big brother/sister thing for gifted kids would be good - kids in their last years of high school paired with lower primary. I think I will talk to some people about something like that.

Everyone, from the world champion down, loses very frequently in chess. If a player is not losing often, he or she is not playing in the right section.

I agree with ultramarina that playing opponents is better than playing a computer.

I am not the right opponent though.

Puffin, if you live anywhere semi-cosmopolitan, there is probably a local scholastic chess scene. There is a very vibrant one where we live. Local tournaments here easily attract 75-100 kids. Chess tends to attract bright kids; your son would likely be able to find opponents worth his time.

You can also get human opponents on chesskid.com.


mithawk, that's a question I do have for you. How do we know when DS5 should move up to K-3 or K-5? Is there any reason not to move up?

[quote=ultramarina]Puffin, if you live anywhere semi-cosmopolitan, there is probably a local scholastic chess scene. There is a very vibrant one where we live. Local tournaments here easily attract 75-100 kids. Chess tends to attract bright kids; your son would likely be able to find opponents worth his time.

You can also get human opponents on chesskid.com.


Thanks but I live in a smallish city in New Zealand. There is probably a chess club at high school or maybe intermediate (4 years off) but probably nothing major. I will look into it when the new school year starts in February.

As long as a child can behave appropriately for the section, there is no reason not to move up. When a child starts consistently winning a majority of games in each tournament, it is time to move up.

For that matter, once children reach ~1200, they can start playing adults in competitions. The biggest problem is that they may need a step stool to write down the final result.

I thought you might live in NZ. Try chesskid! But he probably wants to practice on some chess compter games first.

mithawk, DS5 came in second in his school club tournament, in which he was the only kid below grade 2. I believe he played 7 or 8 games and won all but 1 (that kid's rating is 1300 or something so we knew he would not win). I am not sure how it was bracketed, or whatever you call that, but I know that towards the end he played a number of good players with ratings in the 700s-low 1000s and beat them. I am guessing this means he should not play in K-1, but he has only played 1 regional tournament.

I am impressed that your son can play two longs games in a row.

I tried chess on my son when he was younger. The problem was every chess class or group he tried used chess timers to limit the games. He really hated the timers and was turned off of the game.

Ultramarina. What would you recommend? I read the chess resources thread and looked at some reveiws and ended up more confused as what to use first that would leave them wanting to play play real games against real people.

How much has he played? Just a few games with you, or more?

Just a couple of games with me. He seems to have no problem with the concept of moving but I'm not sure he grasps the check idea. I just always thought I would be able to teach him but suddenly realised I am far too rusty and probably even if I wasn't not good enough to teach. Once he can play I may be able to play with him for a while or maybe not. He needs to have to work though.

How old is he? You could try Fritz and Chesster. It's quite long and has a computer opponent. I think it taught DS a lot. Then you could go to chesskid and he could play real opponents.

He is 7 in March. I was just worried if he did the Fritz and Chesster thing he may find the actual game a bit quiet.

The actual over the board game of chess, you mean? F and C is fun, but not super duper glitzy with you shooting space aliens or anything. I actually love it because it won't let you progress till you reach mastery. If it ruins him for the real game, though, which I think unlikely, then perhaps he doesn't have a strong interest. I think it's always more fun to play with a real person.

You really shouldn't have any trouble finding adequate challenge with him on chess engines or with online players. Remember, computers can beat any human chess player!

I keep trying to explain to my son that the solution to not knowing what move to make is *not* to keep moving your king back and forth between the same two spaces.