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Would you have liked to have chess lessons at school?

Poll

Would you like to have had (compulsory) chess lessons at school?

This comes up every now and then: there are many educational benefits of teaching chess in schools.

However, while I personally agree that it has many benefits, I always found chess incredibly boring and I am very glad I didn't have to do it at school. What about you? (If you personally would have enjoyed such lessons, please vote yes, even if you don't necessarily agree they should be compulsory for everyone.)

PS: This is a little bit weird but I would have loved to be taught football tactics (in theory lessons) at school. Surely intellectually that would be nearly as stimulating as chess but somehow much more interesting / fun. :wink:
(edited 9 years ago)

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Yeah I would.

My dad's a competitive level chess player and I've always liked it.
Reply 2
I would of liked it but I don't think it should be compulsory as I understand that other people may not share my opinion.
Lol no..
No one's ever taught me how to play chess so I'd have liked it! Its embarrassing telling people I don't know how to play chess..
Hell no.

There was a chess club at my school and I could demolish most of them. Do I really want anything which could have potentially closed the gap?
Not compulsory no.... I think it could be optional but I don't think that many from GCSE upwards because of work load, e.g. using lunch as catch up.

Some primary schools have lessons/clubs at lunch though... I went to them. :colondollar:
(edited 9 years ago)
We've played chess in maths and there was a chess club in primary school - when going to clubs was a lot cooler than in secondary school :tongue:
I like chess, but I think it would be wrong to make it compulsory.
If I were at a school, I can imagine for myself to practice chess lessons as extracurricular activity.

Original post by Maid Marian
I like chess, but I think it would be wrong to make it compulsory.


Think so too. Everyone who don't like chess should not be compelled to take compulsory chess lessons.
Reply 10
I was given chess lessons at primary school and it was pretty good.

I only went cos I was obsessed with Harry Potter and thought I could be as good as Ron, though.
Reply 11
Original post by Kallisto
If I were at a school, I can imagine for myself to practice chess lessons as extracurricular activity.

Think so too. Everyone who don't like chess should not be compelled to take compulsory chess lessons.


I guess it depends how much one believes in the actual benefits of chess - if you are really 100% convinced that it is beneficial then you would want every child to experience it. Just like some people lobby for every child to learn a musical instrument. So for example, in Armenia they do believe in the benefits of chess and so they have made it compulsory for six-year-olds (2 hours a week, I think). I agree with you though. :tongue:
It would have been a complete waste of time.

It's a hobby, something that you should A. Learn in your own time or B. Use your breaks to learn.
Original post by llys
I guess it depends how much one believes in the actual benefits of chess - if you are really 100% convinced that it is beneficial then you would want every child to experience it. Just like some people lobby for every child to learn a musical instrument. So for example, in Armenia they do believe in the benefits of chess and so they have made it compulsory for six-year-olds (2 hours a week, I think). I agree with you though. :tongue:


When I'm thinking about the benefits of playing chess, I would say chess sharpens the mind. Children who are playing chess usually get a tactical understanding. A characteristic which may useful for the development of a growing up person indeed. For a former chess player like me I can say that chess has made a great contribution in my childhood, although I have not taken part in a compulsory chess lesson. That's why it should up to every single one whether someone wants to play chess or not.

I have heard that chess is a compulsory lesson in Armenia to animate children to think. As long as no one is forced to play chess, its okay in my opinion.
It seems likely to be similarly beneficial to learning a musical instrument.

Musics lessons were compulsory for me up to year 9 (as was art, for that matter), and I assume they still are. Most people found those lessons dull as hell. I'd have rather learnt chess. At least at primary school. Everyone has lessons they find boring, so that's somewhat irrelevant.

Much like the claims that learning Latin gives broad benefits to a child's education - if it works, why the hell not?

Learning chess might help eradicate the scourge, most commonly found in girls (in my experience), that is the claim that they are 'no good at logic'. Bordering on a fear of it (like maths).


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(edited 9 years ago)
I don't like chess at all, yawn.
by all means give them a taster in lesson time and an after school club - but the national curriculum is already choked with pet projects and semi-good ideas made compulsory.

It also might be difficult to find qualified teachers with enough chess knowledge. - are we going to stick a level of chess knowledge into the requirements for being a teacher?
Reply 17
Nope. Hardly useful anyway.
Reply 18
Original post by Ndella
Nope. Hardly useful anyway.


There was a boy in my primary school who was supposed to be some kind of chess genius. He was always going backward and forward in and out of home schooling so that he could concentrate on his chess. Oh how we laughed.

I saw him in the Metro a couple of months ago. He sold his Artificial Intelligence company to Google for half a billion pounds. Oh how we didn't laugh.
Reply 19
Original post by Clip
There was a boy in my primary school who was supposed to be some kind of chess genius. He was always going backward and forward in and out of home schooling so that he could concentrate on his chess. Oh how we laughed.

I saw him in the Metro a couple of months ago. He sold his Artificial Intelligence company to Google for half a billion pounds. Oh how we didn't laugh.


Hahaha.

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