With so much progress taking place in educational chess in 2024, it’s hard to keep pace with the flurry of Chess in Education (CIE) news and announcements. This could be a breakout year for CIE on several fronts. Here’s an overview of what we are seeing, along with links for a deeper dive.
Technology
A variety of technology products caught our attention for recently incorporating specific CIE elements.
LogiqBoard – A CIE Productivity Tool
LogiqBoard is an interactive, shareable game board capable of playing chess, chess mini-games, and other logic games. Developed by leaders of the CIE movement in the UK including Rita Atkins, Secretary of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess in Education Commission. The tool successfully incorporates many of the training techniques and mini-games which are central to the education (CIE) repertoire.
.LogiqBoard is particularly suited to teachers with Chess in Education certification. It is an excellent collaborative problem-solving tool for use both online and in classroom settings. Our Chess in Education – US is planning to offer LogiqBoard as part of its Granite Gambit program in the coming new year. Learn more at LogiqBoard.com
Chess Training Tools
While CIE practice places primary reliance on direct, in-person teacher interaction with students, internet-based training tools are important for differentiated instruction and student self-learning.
There are a great many other chess-training tools with a curriculum, lessons, and other features. The ones highlighted here have specific CIE and child-safety elements. Each offers high quality training material. [Editor’s Note: this isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list; it includes only products with which we are familiar.]
ChessKid
ChessKid is that leading chess training software for children in the US and has a major presence overseas. As an early adviser to ChessKid nearly a decade ago, it was the first chess training package to evolve from a personal training program for parents and chess coaches to a tool with a curriculum and administrative tools designed for use in the classroom. Its wit and cartoonish characters work well for primary and elementary school students.
ChessKid periodically offers grant applications to schools.
Learning Chess
A worthy competitor to ChessKid, Learning Chess makes use of LogiqBoard, a move that catapults it into consideration as a candidate for an interactive chess training tool for CIE instructors. More at Learningchess.net.
Think Like a King
Think Like a King is a classic chess training program that has evolved to include administrative tools and a technological base suitable for schools and competitive to ChessKid. Teachers looking for a training tool with a greater emphasis on language and vocabulary skills than ChessKid will appreciate the Think Like a King alternative.
Professional Development & Certification
Professional development and certification opportunities for CIE teachers continue to proliferate.
The European Chess Union (ECU) and FIDE now offer competing programs for CIE certification. Both programs are grounded in similar principals and techniques that grew out work by the ECU.
FIDE’s suite of certification programs are offered in many countries in Europe and Asia. In the past year, FIDE offered its Preparation of Teachers course for the first time in-person in China.
The European Chess Union’s Jesper Hall is an architect for the Chess in Primary Education program. The University of the Aegean – Life Long Learning Centre offered the program for the first time this year.
In the United States, Chess in Education – US offers its own four-day CIE Certification classes. The program is currently being offered to New Hampshire educators through the Granite Gambit program.
Large Scale Chess in Education
In his role as FIDE Chess in Education Chair, Jerry Nash reports strong growth in the number of countries interested in starting chess programs. While the initial interest may be driven by the vision of a strong competitive chess program, a number of national chess federations, including India, Kazakhstan, North Maldova, Honduras, Trinidad-Tobago, and Costa Rica, are showing greater openness to making CIE a part of their vision.
This has led to renewed thinking about how to implement large scale CIE , Dr Bilal Ahmad Pandow offered introductory guidance on Building a Sustainable Chess in Education Initiative: A Global Guide. Chessineducation.org recently opened its CIE Implementation page on this topic to public access.
Festivals / Conferences
We are looking forward to covering the following two major CIE events in September and October. Expect more breaking news as we hear from the global CIE community.
1) Global Chess Festival
The Global Chess Festival is an annual happening in Budapest Hungary led by former women’s world champion GM Judit Polgar. Prominent among the events will be the 4th Annual Educational Chess Summit on September 18. Changemakers and innovators from around the world share their ideas and experiences.
2) Saint Louis Chess Conference
The first major US Chess in Education Conference in a decade takes place in October. [See our prior post.]
