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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?