Game theory: Chess aids students with attention disorders

The New York Times News Service (March 15, 2004)

Marin News and Observer (March 22, 2004)

PHOTO: Alex Kingsbury Darwin Lopez, 15, wages war with his plastic army in the cafeteria of PS279 during the Bronx Chess Day, sponsored by Chess in the Schools. Educators say the game teaches vital concentration and study skills to students.

Fifth-grader Darwin Lopez watched his opponent move a bishop against a phalanx of white pawns. Lopez seized the opportunity to take an exposed rook. His foe, left with only four pieces, cursed and capitulated.

Lopez smiled and shook hands with his opponent before they stood and left the tournament room.

Some of the older players wore headphones droning rap music during match play as they stared at their checkered battlefields. They focused on the vulnerabilities of their armies, the strategy of their opponents and the clock, as it ticked down.

"We are in a cafeteria full of elementary school kids and it is totally quiet. Where else would this happen?" said Alexander Beltre, program director for Chess in the Schools, the nonprofit program in New York City that sponsored the tournament. "Chess focuses kids like nothing else."

Educators say chess is a valuable tool for teaching creative thinking, math, reading skills -- and patience -- to elementary schoolers. It has become so useful that schools from more than 30 countries have integrated the game into their curriculum.

Nationwide, 1,400 schools have teams that are affiliated with the U.S. Chess Federation, up from 800 a decade ago. New Jersey, for example, passed legislation recommending that chess be included in the public school curriculum. In Philadelphia, funding for chess is part of a major revamping of the school system.

"It is therapeutic for many of these kids," said John Simonian, Lopez's chess coach and an elementary school teacher in Manhattan. "Darwin was having trouble in school. His teacher said that he would not pay attention and focus in class. But playing chess he will sit down and be totally focused for an hour or an hour and a half."

The connection between chess and math, reading and critical thinking skills is well-documented. In the early 1980s, researchers studying chess in Pennsylvania schools over a five-year period showed critical thinking skills improved by 17 percent for students in chess classes, compared with a 5 percent improvement for students in other classes.

Similarly, a study in 1996 by educational psychologist Stuart Margulies showed a marked improvement in reading skills for students learning chess in New York schools.

"It is not always the smartest kids in the class that will take to chess and play well," said Sean O'Hanlon, who teaches chess to second-grade students for the Chess in the Schools program. "It forces them to sit down and plan what they are going to do and then carry the plan out. They learn what it means to fail and succeed, which can be a big boost for their self-esteem."

Chess in the Schools, founded in 1986, is the most expansive scholastic chess program in the country, involving 38,000 students in 160 New York City junior high and elementary schools. Students receive lessons once a week from a chess master teaching basic instruction to advanced strategy.

Chess teachers said the game is effective in teaching patience and concentration to students with short attention spans and those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. There have been no scientific studies on ADHD and chess, but educators say the ancient board game is remarkable in its ability to make kids pay attention.

"It does help kids who have trouble in regular classes, I don't even know how," said Alan Kantor, a former elementary school teacher who now works for the U.S. Chess Federation in upstate New York. "They have the motivation to focus because it is competitive and it's a game that just holds their attention." The federation has 90,000 members, half of whom are under 19 years old.

Focus is key. In fact, professional chess players are even tested for Ritalin, a drug used to combat ADHD.

"It is a game that requires thinking and planning, and those are skills that kids can use in their schoolwork, math, reading and their everyday lives," said Kantor, who has taught elementary school students with behavioral problems and learning disabilities.

"The outcome of the game is dependent on the player and the plan, not chance," he said, adding that bridge, Scrabble and other games based on chance do not make players think in the same ways.

Students have traditionally formed chess clubs in after-school programs or participated in the game outside of class, but educators and school officials are becoming more interested in the game as its educational benefits become clear.

"I can take some of the toughest kids in the school and teach them chess and they are committed to it," said Simonian, Darwin Lopez's coach. "It is a game that students can connect with and learn by playing."

For his part, fifth-grader Lopez said tournament competition is what keeps his attention. "I play baseball, but it is fun to play chess, too. If I lose it's not good, and I have to come back and beat them next time."

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