Why is Chess Good for Kids?

“Why should my kid learn chess?”

For chess teachers, this question pops up every now and then. “Why should my kids learn chess? What good will it do?”

Chess for kids is, above all else, about having fun. But there are ways in which Silver Knights and chess can help your child become better, smarter individuals. Here are just a few of them.

Chess for Kids: Critical Thinking and Memorization

Some people say chess helps develop critical thinking. It can, but in ways you may not have considered. 

We often think about critical thinking as a concept opposed to rote memorization, but the two are in fact connected. Memorization is essential to developing critical thinking. You cannot take two ideas and develop a new third idea if you have not memorized any ideas. Memorization helps critical thinking, and chess helps promote memorization. 

This doesn't mean children who play chess should try to memorize every possible move (though we have had parents seriously ask whether their children should do this). There are positions your chess-playing kid will see more than others. After seeing such positions many, many times, kids often start to memorize which moves work and which don't. Maybe your kid can memorize such moves without help, or maybe our Silver Knights coaches will help. 

Beginning chess players will see this position many, many times. What should you do next?

After memorizing those few moves, your child can apply this knowledge in different situations. Chess kids can look at similar positions, see whether these responses will work in the slightly different position, and then adjust what they know. 

That process of memorization and adapting knowledge to new situations? That is critical thinking! And this is a skill that can be used in so many things beyond chess!

Chess for Kids: Losing and Sportsmanship

A good chess player is a good sport.

Children can participate in all sorts of activities where they can win or lose. All of these activities can teach kids good sportsmanship and learning to deal with the disappointment of losing. 

Chess for kids is uniquely special at teaching your children about dealing with losses and giving them grit.

First, chess is an individual activity. Losing in a team activity like basketball is certainly painful. But since it is a team activity, that lets people avoid responsibility. Many professional athletes and coaches will blame the referees or the weather or just about anything you can think of except themselves. And if it happens at the professional level, it can happen at the amateur level too. 

But in an individual activity like chess for kids, things are different. Whether your kid wins or loses is almost entirely up to them. The good news is that your kid gets to grab all the glory for winning. The bad news is that your kid has to face responsibility for losing and messing up. 

That is painful, and all parents want to make sure their kid does not experience pain. But how your kid deals with that pain is an important life lesson that everyone must learn sooner or later. Often, it is better done sooner. 

Another advantage of chess is that mistakes, especially at a beginner or intermediate level, are obvious. 

In other individual activities like swimming, a swimmer cannot point to some single moment that decided the race. And in chess at professional levels, a match will often be decided by slow, steady play rather than by a single blunder (though it does happen, and our online chess academy has lessons which show instances like this!)

But in an amateur chess game, a match will often be decided by a clear, decisive mistake. Maybe your kid leaves the queen wide open. Worse, maybe they make a move which leads to an immediate checkmate. 

Such blunders are terrible and your kid may feel bad. But the fact that the blunder is often so clear means that there is a good side. Often, your kid will be able to see what could have happened differently. This promotes the idea that losing and making mistakes is a key step in how we improve our skills. Silver Knights coaches often talk about this important lesson, but seeing it for yourself in a game can be a real eye-opener. 

Losing is tough, but everybody loses. What your kid does upon losing is a very important lesson. Chess is particularly good at helping kids take responsibility for losing, and teaching them that losing is a path towards improvement. 

Chess for Children: Fun, Friendly Competition

How your kid deals with winning and losing is a key part of chess growth.

Your child can learn how to handle losing, but there is much more to competition and good sportsmanship. Chess can also help promote these good habits. At Silver Knights, we help kids develop a competitive, respectful spirit. This is not just as individuals, but as classmates helping each other learn and competing against one another. 

In our local and online classes, Silver Knights uses what is called a ladder system. This is a way of ensuring that kids have an appropriate matchup. In some classes, kids pay little attention to the ladder. In others, the ladder becomes very important as kids compete hard to stay at the top.

Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. But when the latter occurs, it is our responsibility as chess coaches to make sure kids are respectful to one another as winners and losers. 

The individualistic, intense pressure of chess helps teach kids that it is always important to be gracious, whether it is in the joy of victory or the pain of losing. Friendly competition can help teach kids proper behavior.

Chess for Kids: Having Fun by Learning

While painful moments can exist when playing chess, chess is fundamentally about having fun. And this is the simplest, best reason for why your child should learn chess.

Certainly, winning in chess is fun. Your kid should always feel proud upon winning a game. But learning chess can be fun as well.

One reason why learning math or English or science can be difficult is that children feel that they do not get anything out of it. 

“Why should I memorize or learn this thing in school? I can just look it up on Google!”

Some people talk about chess that way, ever since Deep Blue’s victory over Kasparov nearly 20 years ago. Certainly, one can ask a chess engine like Stockfish to tell them the best move. But even today, kids across the world still feel a profound sense of accomplishment when they learn a chess technique. The first time they do a fork or complete a type of checkmate is a proud moment for any beginner chess player.  

With help from our Silver Knights instructors, your child can learn how to do a type of checkmate or some tactic, and then can often use it on the chessboard right away. There is an immediate, direct correlation between learning something and using that thing.

Chess can show your kid that by working hard and listening, they can learn things that can be applied to chess and that are fun.

And learning is a muscle that improves with use. Your kid can make the short leap from “learning chess is fun!” to “learning is fun!”

Many kids first learn chess from their parents.

Furthermore, there is the thrill of competition and improving skills. For many kids, the primary reason to learn chess is “So I can beat my dad/mom!” By learning chess, your child can learn a game they can work on their whole life and never master. There are so many things in life, from programming to languages, that are like that. By picking up the habit that there are always things to learn no matter what age you are at, your child can learn something that often many adults never understand.

Chess for Kids with Silver Knights 

Your kids can start learning chess at a young age and with parents. But our online academy and trained instructors can help your child learn and have fun.

Chess is a unique, individual activity where children can develop critical thinking skills, learn to compete in a team and individual setting, and learn important life lessons about losing. But above all else, we make sure that your kids will have a great time with our programs and games. 

Consider looking into what Silver Knights can do for you. Sign up for our trial chess class today!