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Writer's pictureJayvon Davis

Chess Life Lessons for Kids!


Let’s be honest with ourselves. We want our kids to have fun while playing chess. But kids can have fun doing anything. We want our kids to not only have fun, but to benefit from the activity. Why Chess? Because Chess is a perfect mix between beneficial and fun. The skills are important , but what may be the most important benefits of chess are the life lessons that can be taught through chess. Whether you are trying to convince your child to play chess, or you just want to learn these lessons for yourself and their benefit. This is the list for you!



Creativity- As much as chess is about logic (A+B=A+B) Creativity is paramount to becoming a g-

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reat chess player. There are an infinite amount of moves after the first move is made in chess. This means that chess players must get creative in ways to defend and attack if they want to come up with plans that are unpredictable and strong. In life, creative thinking allows us to solve problems in situations that the answers aren’t given to us. Parents, you can't always give your kids the answer unfortunately. For this reason, kids must develop creativity.


A Loss is not a loss. It's a Lesson.- In chess, the most successful players such as World Champion Magnus Carlsen (the G.O.A.T) lose, but they go over their games and learn from their mistakes to b

ecome better. We are all human, therefore, we will make plenty of mistakes, but what chess teaches us is that even the worst mistakes can be overcome and learned from. Remember when your child learned to ride their bike and they fell 100 times? On the 101st time, they got back on the bike and rode it correctly. They learned from their mistakes!


Flexibility/Adaptability- Plans do not always work out. However, the most successful people and chess players adapt their plans/ change them to fit the situation and make it work for them. Remember in math cl

ass when you had a hard time counting by 5’s and your teacher wasn't there to help you, so you used your fingers? That's Flexibility. That’s Adaptability.





Patterns- In chess, positions repeat themselves from game to game and even move to move. Those who recognize patterns such as patterns that lead to checkmate or winning a piece, can take advantage of them. Ask your child to think about the last hard video game they played. Each video game requires them to recognize a pattern in order to beat it. Every time they recognize a pattern, they can solve a problem better. Multiplication tables are patterns, counting by ones are patterns, LIFE IS MADE OF PATTERNS.


Think ahead and outside the box- In chess, seeing moves ahead allows you to plan for the future, not all plans work exactly, but just like in life, planning for your future allows you to be more prepared to reach your goals. Want to become a firefighter? Well, you should plan to go to Firefighter training, so you can pass the test and become one. Want to reach the final mission on your favorite game? Well you better plan to get more XP so you can beat the level boss



Be Confident- Confidence means that you are comfortable with your decisions. When you make a move, you should stand behind it and be ready to defend your move or explain it when someone asks. Confiden-

ce is the key to your success. If you do not believe in yourself, then other people will not!



Have Fun- Chess is Fun….Life is fun. But you have to remember to breathe, look at what is in front of you and enjoy it! Have fun please, the more you enjoy what you do, the longer you can do it. No one ever wants to go inside for recess. So have fun while you're doing work, listening, and learning!


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