Chess is a game of extraordinary excitement and beauty, with an impressive literature, history and heritage accumulated over the past thousand years. All children should have the opportunity to learn this wonderful game, and indeed many claim that playing abstract strategy games such as chess provides a wide range of cognitive and social benefits – such as improvements in problem-solving ability and communication skills. However, Richard James argues that, because of the complexity of chess, most younger children would gain more benefit from simpler chess-based strategy games and incremental learning. In this practical handbook, Richard provides a wide range of games and puzzles appropriate for primary schools based on these principles and explains how teachers can identify children who would benefit from starting young. Richard also sets out how this approach can engage the whole community, including working with children with special needs, getting parents involved in learning and playing, anddeveloping partnerships between primary and secondary schools. Features and benefits:* Shares the latest research into how children process information, combined with insights into international best practice in teaching chess to young children.* Demonstrates the transformative effect chess can have on older children, and how this can be promoted in secondary schools.* Offers insights into the greater context of chess-playing, expressing how and why chess is a joy to so many worldwide.* Shares a series of resources and minigames for teachers to use with their learners.
