The Didactics of Chess

Stefan LÖFFLER

Seminar on the Didactics of Strategy GamesSidney Sussex College, Cambridge 1-2 October 2016www.chessplus.net or What is Chess for Education?

Chess for education goes back a long way…

Alfonso el Sabio13th Century

Teaching strategy to military men

Wehrschach, Germany 1940

Gustav Selenus,17th Century

When was chess introduced in schools?

Schachdorf Ströbeck, Germany

Chess in schools has become big!

Schack4an, Sweden

In the UK news recently

UK Chess Challenge

Daily Telegraph, September 2016

Research: No long-term benefits?

Daily Telegraph, July 2016

Chess as a school subject: a national experiment

Serge Sarkisian, President of Armenia, visits chess class

Photo: ChessBase.com

Connecting chess with political leaders

Russian President Putin meets FIDE President Ilyumzhinovat the White Rook School Chess Tournament

Photo: kremlin.ru

A battleground in chess politics

Garry Kasparov visits hi-tech classroom in Georgia

Photo: ChessBase.com

Chess federations try to control school chess

• social legitimacy • recruiting members • finding talent • financial motives

Traditional school chess

• has advanced chess learning • introduces children to competitions • domain of teachers who are chess players • job opportunities for coaches

...is in fact a version of competitive chess

Is competitive school chess in the interest of schools?

• great for some gifted children • competitive chess is exclusive • unsuitable for regular (i.e. non-chess) teachers • doesn´t connect with the curriculum

Competitive school chess is “education for chess”.

Is there an alternative?… Absolutely!

Call it… • scholastic chess • or educational chess • or “chess for education”

What makes “chess for education” different?

• includes all children • connects with the curriculum • enables teachers to use play • empowers children to think • requires a different concept of chess

Chess Redefined

…rather than only the version that

is played competitively which is

complicated and has beginners

stumble in the dark for a long time.

…as a field of diverse games and puzzles on

the chessboard

Photo: John Foley

“Chess as an educational toolkit”

• mini games • variants of chess • non-chess games on the chess board • mathematical and logical puzzles • cooperative activities

Conventional mini games

• exercising how the pieces move • detecting captures • distinguishing safe and unsafe squares • checking and saving the king • incorporating the initial position

The Set-Up Game

The Advanced Set-Up Game: Just tell how many moves!

Smart Mini Games

The Rook Game

Players take turns to move the rook which can only go up or right. Whoever moves the rook to h8 is the winner.

Can you visualise the best way to play?

Can you devise an algorithm that plays the Rook Game optimally?

The Rook Game

What happens when you play the Rook Game several times?

You realise that you improve and therefore learn.

…plenty of Mathematical Puzzles

Can you complete a knight’s tour on a 4x4 quadrant?

How many squares are there on a 3 x 3 chess board?

Diverse Activities

Pairs chess

Hand and brain

Bughouse

Switching piece positions

Cooperative ActivitiesLosing Chess

Shuffle Chess

Three Checks Wins

Avalanche Chess

Further chess variants

Other strategy board gamesdraughts - go - shogi - othello

Reflecting with the students

• metacognition • self-regulated learning

London Chess Conference• Research • Best Practice • Debates • Exhibition • Networking

Save the Date: 10-12 December 2016 The Didactics of Chess

www.londonchessconference.com twitter: @londonchessconf info@londonchessconference

The Didactics of Chess

Stefan LÖFFLER

Seminar on the Didactics of Strategy GamesSidney Sussex College, Cambridge 1-2 October 2016www.chessplus.net or What is Chess for Education?