The George Koltanowski Memorial Conference on Chess and Education

This conference was held from December 14 through 16, 2001 and sponsored by The University of Texas at Dallas, the U.S. Chess Trust and Jim Eade, with additional support from the ISOA Corporation.

The following programs were offered:

"The Chess Four Program": The World Chess Federation's (FIDE's) recommended methods for teaching chess to talented youngsters was presented. In particular, the grade four program, for children at age ten, used at the regional, state, national, and international level, will be discussed.

"A Demonstration of Think Like a King Software": Dr. Lipschultz will give a presentation of his integrated software package for scholastic chess that includes modules on the game of chess as well as chess management software that allows teachers with only a minimum knowledge of chess to track student participation and print out certificates to mark achievement and progress at each learning milestone.

"Training in Chess: A Scientific Approach": This paper will show how our current understanding of cognitive psychology can be applied to improve techniques of chess training, teaching, and learning. It starts by giving an overview of the state of research on chess players' memory, perception, and problem solving. It then reviews a psychological theory that has been proposed recently as a synthesis of recent work. Building on this theory, it then reviews various training techniques, both pro and con. It concludes by offering general considerations on chess teaching and learning.

"Chess Resources for the Classroom Teacher": The Scholastic Director of the U.S. Chess Federation, FIDE Master Tom Brownscombe, discusses new materials and new methods available for teaching chess in the classroom for both elementary and secondary teachers, including supplemental materials, software, and websites.

"Building a Successful Chess Program": Using an existing chess program that was established in Chappaqua, New York, in 1999, the author describes the necessary steps to building a chess program.

"Developing a Successful Chess Program in the Elementary Schools": Describes the work done at a large public elementary school, C.E.S. 70, in the Bronx by a Board of Education teacher whose classroom subject was chess.

"History Told Through Chess Problems": In August 2000, Chess-in-the-Schools presented four chess problems created to illustrate stories from history and battle. A report on an innovative effort to integrate literacy, language, geography and history with chess, particularly appropriate for gifted youngsters.

"Using Chess to Teach the Social Sciences: An Integrated Approach": Drawing on material from his forthcoming book, Mr. Weeramantry will present a novel method of teaching history and geography by integrating the study of those subjects with the history and geography of the development of chess. Particularly appropriate for teachers of gifted and talented children.

"Using Chess to Facilitate Social Skills Development in Children": A discussion of an innovative approach for teaching social skills to children using the game of chess as part of their guidance and counseling program. Based upon Cognitive-Behavioral Theory and the methods of the W.T. Grant Consortium on the School-Based Promotion of Social Competence, the approach has been successfully used at elementary, middle, and high school levels. Mr. Moreno's bookon the subject, Teaching Life Skills Through Chess: A Guide for Educators and Counselors, has just been published by American Literary Press, Inc.

"Knowledge-Based Test Suites for the Evaluation of Chess Strength": The Bratko-Kopec Test was designed in 1982 to evaluate computer chess programs. Over the years, this test has proven extremely reliable in distinguishing between chessplayer rating levels for both humans and machines. The work has been continually updated and continues to prove useful. In the classroom, it has particular applicability to gifted and talented young chessplayers.

"On the Making of a Chess Parent": A discussion based on personal experience of 1) motivations that draw a parent and child into the world of scholastic chess; 2) their five-point strategy for improvement; 3) significant training issues; 4) a tour of the scholastic chess tournament scene; 5) how to relate to, begin, or do without a chess club. Based on his own experiences with his son, Reed Sorensen, who eighteen months after he learned to play the game finished third in his grade level at the National Scholastic K-12 Chess Championship, the paper offers insight into how to spot and develop significant chess talent.

"Developing Young Chess Masters: What Are the Best Moves?": Although characteristics of chess talent are well studied, the development of chess talent has been largely ignored. The paper reports on the results of interviews with parents of young chess masters, and predicts that quick development results from five factors.

"An Overview of Chess Research": An overview of significant research on chess and education conducted over the past thirty years, drwaing on the presenter's own original research projects and showing how teaching chess helps solve pressing social problems.

"Starting a School Chess Club: Techniques from the Open Classroom for Teaching Chess to Beginners": This paper discusses the steps necessary to start up a school chess club and the teaching methods needed to introduce chess to beginners. In particular, the paper will answer the question: With limited chess expertise and financial resources, how can I develop a championship scholastic chess program?"

"Meet the Instructors: Chess in the Classroom I and II": A reception to allow conference participants to meet the instructors for Chess in the Classroom I and II, the internet courses offered by UTD over UT Telecampus. Dr. Tim Redman and Dr. Alexey Root, along with other members of the UTD Chess Program will atend. Dr. Root's current students and prospective students of Drs. Root and Redman are especially encouraged to attend and learn about both courses, which can be taken in any order and are both offered Spring semester. Wear your badge!

"Better Chess Analogies": An account of the search for improved metaphors and analogies to desribe what is actually going on in the mind through chess.

"In the Spirit of Caissa: Chess for Holistic Education": When we consider chess and its role in education, it is helpful to have a larger vision of the purpose and potential of chess "in the spirit of Caissa." We gain the perspective of hess as an integrative path of personal development, akin to the martial arts. As a powerful resource for developing an attitude of lifelong learning and creativity, chess can also serve as a model for holistic education, so much needed in these times.

"The Chess Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County": Chess has become an integral part of the culture and identity of UMBC, which has no football team but offers chess scholarships and holds pep rallies for its chess team. Chess activities include exhibition matches, a Master Preparation chess course, summer camp, coaching sessions, weekly meeting, tournaments, and special lectures. The talk explains how the program was developed and how it benefits this midsized public university and the surrounding community.

"The Chess Program at The University of Texas at Dallas": The fourfold aim of the chess program at UTD has been 1) to develop chess as a symbol for UTD, 2) to achieve media recognition for UTD, 3) to recruit gifted and talented high school students, 4) to use chess as a means of reaching into inner-city Dallas schools. To help teachers nationwide incorporate chess in their curricular and after-school programs, UTD now offers two for-credit courses, Chess in the Classroom I and II, over the internet. Completion of both courses, which can be taken in either order or together, at either level, leads to the award of a Certificate in Chess and Education from UTD.

"The Checkmate in School: A Demonstration Project": This paper will address the fundamental soundness of establishing a chess project in the public schools system, how to establish such a project, reasonable expectations of benefits to be derived from such a project, and research endeavors surrounding it.

"The Effect on Academic Scores for Students Participating in Chess Clubs": The results of a pilot study comparing chess club participants' Portland (OR) Achievement Levels Test scores with all students in the same school.

"Practical Teaching Methods in the Elementary Classroom": Javier Pinedo will demonstrate the various creative methods he uses to teach chess for gifted and talented students, relating them to game theory and accomodating various individual learning styles.

"How the U.S. Chess Trust Works": The U.S. Chess Trust is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides funding for socially beneficial uses of chess. Founded in 1967 by Harold Dondis and Ed Edmondson, the Trust supports chess in the schools nationwide. Trust Chairman Harold Winston supplies an overview of the funding the Trust provides to programs that promote chess as a social good and chess and education.

"The Dallas Area Chess in the Schools Foundation": DACIS President and FIDE Master John Jacobs explains the role of the Dallas Area Chess in the Schools Foundation in providing chess instruction to students in DISD schools.

"DeGroot's Thought and Choice in Chess: A 21st Century Perspective": A consideration of the work of one of the pioneers in the academic study of chess, UTD Ph.D. student and USCF Charitable Trust President Frank Niro exposes the enduring elements in DeGroot's research and contemporary responses to it.

"A Meta-Analysis on How Training in Chess Affects Children's Scores on Academic Aptitude Tests": A number of research studies have attempted to discover whether training children in the game of chess can have an effect on their academic aptitude scores. This paper uses a statistical technique called Meta-Analysis to combine these studies into one large study by using statistical methods. The basic results of this study showed that chess training had a very significant (p<0.01) positive effect on children's performances on academic aptitude tests, and a weighted least squares regression analysis showed that this was best shown for junior high-school and upper-elementary students, who had at least a one-hour exposure to chess for a minimum of one school year.

"Create-a-Mate: Checkmate and the Discovery Method": Chess-in-the-Schools instructors have used the "create-a-mate" method for the past two years. Students are broken into groups of two or four to creat a mate given certain material; this group discovery method has been particularly effective in teaching.

"Tips and Tricks for Teaching Total Beginners": A quick tour of methods incorporating verbal, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles.

"A Case Study on the Relationship Between Classroom Chess Instruction and Nonverbal Problem Solving Abilities of Economically Disadvantaged Students": The study was conducted at a middle school in South Texas with demographics typical of South Texas. The results demonstrated that economically disadvantaged students given chess instruction experienced significant improvement in academic potential as measured by the MAT.

"Chess and Standardized Test Scores": Regular (non-honors) Elementary Students who participated in a school chess club showed twice the improvement of non-chessplayers in reading and mathematics between third and fifth grades on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS).

"Chess Within the National Education Programs of Cuba and El Salvador": In America only two Latin countries have chess established as part of the national education system. The presenter, a former President of the Cuban Chess Federation and current Executive Director of the newly established Chess in Schools Program in El Salvador, will describe the programs in Cuba and El Salvador, their successes and the challenges they face.

"Goals, Instruments, and Prospects for Chess in Schools in the Era of Globalization": A paper presented by the Chairman and Founder of the World Chess Federation's (FIDE) Chess in Schools Committee at the recent FIDE meeting in Greece, outlining the goals and accomplishments of the Committee to date, and indicating the direction that FIDE should take in the area ochess and education for the future.

"Distractions in the Tournament Rooms: Is Anyone Paying Attention?": The paper a) explains the nature of attention and the role of attention in chess play, b) describes and illuminates sources of distraction at chess tournaments, and c) offers suggestions for improving tournament playing conditions.

"Tears in Scholastic Chess Competitions": A study of the incidence of crying in scholastic chess competitions. Surveys and interviews show that one-third of the adults supervising schoolchildren in chess competitions had a child cry or become very upset during or immediately after a game. In this paper, an analysis of youth sports competitions (including chess) will precede an analysis of adult reactions to chess tears. The conclusion of the paper examines whether similar structural changes would be appropriate for scholastic chess.

"Using Chess to Teach Other Academic Subjects": A consideration of the various methods to incorporate chess into school curriculum.

"Connecting Chess to the Regular Curriculum": A discussion of the problems which have traditionally kept chess out of the regular curriculum and how the Seattle Chess Foundation is trying to solve them.

"Teaching a University-Level Chess Course": Reporting on a course taught at DePaul University, "Chess/Culture." The course consists of two main parts: 1) learning to play chess and improving the level of play; 2) a large array of cultural and intellectual topics related to chess including philosophy, psychology, gender, literature, film, the history of Soviet chess, music, and the visual arts.

"Chess as a Supplement to Teaching Ethics: An Example": Using chess to teach Aristotle's Ethics, and moral decision making.

"The Development of Chess Skill With the Endgame Among Young Children": An investigation of the development of chess skill in endgame play among young children. Looking at two positions in the endgame, each with only four players, the experiementer observed the understanding demonstrated by ten players age 6 and ten players age 8.

"The Practice of Theory": A presentation of a complete curriculum for one semester of classroom chess instruction.

"Chess in a DISD Magnet School: The Development of a Program": Describes the development of the chess program at Dealey from its beginnings as an after-school enrichment program through its growth into a community-supported activity.

"Scholastic Chess for Parents and Teachers": Chess education for parents and schoolteachers is an important element in supporting chess education for children. This interactive presentation will discuss the following topics: parent/teacher involvement in the child's chess education and experiences; expectations at chess events; chess etiquette for players and parents; incorporating chess concepts into general education; the frequency and schedule of major events and the role of tournament officials; defining the structure of scholastic chess in the United States.

"'At the ches with me she gan to pleye': Learning Chess in the Medieval World": Just as chess currently functions as a cerebral pastime and, in the field of education, a powerful tool, so too did it serve an important role, albeit a very different one, in medieval culture. In fact, chess entered into Western Europe right in the middle of the Middle Ages, reaching a zenith of popularity in the thirteenth century, and fading a bit with the advent of the printing press, which eventually made possible the mass production of playing cards. This talk will discuss the place of chess in medieval culture and offer some tentative explanations for its popularity. Along the way, it will consider the role of chess in medieval education and its use as a metaphor for social organization in cultures throughout Europe.

"'A nice book, but what's his rating?': Rating the Books of Chess Fiction": A look at the treatment of chess in fiction, with particular emphasis on Vladimir Nabokov, Walter Tevis, and Stefan Zweig, but also looking at other fictional chess adventures, from Alice to Harry.

"Why and How Teach Chess in Schools?": An answer to these two fundamental questions by the author of Why Teach Chess in Schools? and The Chess Teaching System, recognized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and distributed worldwide.