Explaining the Motivation Behind Our Chess & History Book At the National Scholastic Chess Foundation, our belief is that the benefits of teaching chess to children go far beyond their time spent in front of a chessboard. Through chess, students hone their critical thinking, deductive reasoning, and strategic planning aptitudes. Chess improves focus and teaches children to stay on task.… Read More »
Language Arts – Building Comprehension
Language Arts: Vocabulary Support, Reading and Comprehension Great Moves: Learning Chess Through History is written in 5 parts that begin with the origins of chess and continue through the late 1800s; the chess instruction goes from a review of beginning concepts, presented in the context of when the idea was first published or popularized, and… Read More »
Teacher Tip – Using Great Moves with More Advanced Chess Students
We all know it can be a challenge getting students to review material they feel they already know. But in chess, we regularly re-approach the same concepts trying to make them become as automatic as if we had taught driving a bike. So the first step is to explain to students why we review and… Read More »
Bonus Game – Morphy vs. Potier
The concept of a mating net is taught at the very beginning of “Great Moves: Learning Chess Through History” (p. 32) with examples given throughout the book. We see one created by Paul Murphy in his game against Johann Löwenthal that begins on p. 281. Here’s another, this one taken from a game played by… Read More »