“Bringing Chess into 100 Schools in Slovakia”

[FM Stanislav Vlček]

School Chess Coordinator for the Western Slovakia

27th April 2012 Vienna

President of the Slovak Chess Federation: Ing. Martin HubaWebpage: www.chess.skNumber of players: 6887 (numbers are to 31.12.2011)Number of active players: 4120Number of GMs: 10

(currently the best rated GM Ján Markoš 2576)Number of clubs: 235Year budget: cca. 135 000 €

Slovenský šachový zväz –– Slovak Chess Federation

System of the team competitions in Slovakia

Extraliga

1.Liga západ

2.Liga A 2.Liga B

1.Liga východ

2.Liga C 2.Liga D

Organized by Slovak Chess Federation

Organized by Regional Chess Federations

3.Liga – regional:Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Trenčín, Žilina, Banská Bystrica, Košice,

Prešov4.Liga5.Liga

Chess in Schools (CIS) SLOVAKIA

Social aims of the project Chess in Schools

• Begin of the project CIS – April 2011 • Project initiator – Slovak Chess Federation• Social aims of the project:

1. To learn as more children to play chess and use chess as the learning tool to teach them the right thinking process. 2. To motivate children to meaningful use of their leisure time, which is at the same time prevention against the harmful addictions. 3. Increase of the membership of Slovak Chess Federation.4. Sooner identification of talented individualsand provide them the expert training.

Chess in Schools (CIS) SLOVAKIA

• Realization of the project started on the begin of the school year 2011/2012 in whole country.

• Plan for the next 3 years is to bring 300 elementary schools into the project. Each school can decide, whether Chess will be only after school activity, or higher level – Chess will be an optional subjectduring normal education.

• In the first year of the project we planned to bring 100 elementary schools. We fullfiled this and currently we have about 150 schools thorough the country.

CIS Leadership and Project teamProject leader: Martin Huba, the SŠZ president

Metodic manager:Peter Paleček

Regional managers : Western Slovakia (regions Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra):Stanislav Vlček, contact: 0910 623 563, wlk1977@yahoo.com, acreditations on the

Ministry of education.Mid Slovakia (regions Žilina, Trenčín, Banská Bystrica):Juraj Ivan, contact: juraj.ivan@stonline.sk

Eastern Slovakia (regions Prešov, Košice): Niki Varholáková, varholakova@chess.sk

Tournament director:Rastislav Diviak

Administrative support - Secretary SŠZ: Martin Dobrotka, Blanka Rusková

Controlling:Gustáv Šturc, Ľubomír Chripko, Martin Huba

How can Chess help to pupil?Many scientific studies proved that children who play chess, not

only had better grades in Mathematics (about 17-20%), but surprisingly also in other subjects, such as Native language or English. Chess improves also children's reading, writing. Further study shown that chess leads to better results from tests on critical and creative thinking.

When I play chess, it does not mean that I will be grandmaster or the world champion. As for mathematics, music or art lessons, nobody expects me to become the next Einstein, Beethoven or van Gogh. As different subjects in school education develop a variety of abilities and skills, similarly chess contributes to improving children's mental level.

Currently, the top chess players are often still teenagers, it is best to start with chess in pre-school age. If a child wants to be successful, it should begin to pay serious attention to chess not later than in the first class, so at age six years.

Academic Benefits of Chessby Chessmaster Jerry Meyers

We have brought chess to the schools because we believe it directly contributes to academic performance. Chess makes kids smarter. It does so by teaching the following skills:

• Focusing - Children are taught the benefits of observing carefully and concentrating. If they don'twatch what is happening, they can't respond to it, no matter how smart they are.

• Visualizing - Children are prompted to imagine a sequence of actions before it happens. Weactually strengthen the ability to visualize by training them to shift the pieces in their mind, firstone, then several moves ahead.

• Thinking Ahead - Children are taught to think first, then act. We teach them to ask themselves "If Ido this, what might happen then, and how can I respond?" Over time, chess helps develop patience and thoughtfulness.

• Weighting Options - Children are taught that they don't have to do the first thing that pops into their mind. They learn to identify alternatives and consider the pros and cons of various actions.

• Analyzing Concretely - Children learn to evaluate the results of specific actions and sequences. Does this sequence help me or hurt me? Decisions are better when guided by logic, rather than impulse.

• Thinking Abstractly - Children are taught to step back periodically from details and consider thebigger picture. They also learn to take patterns used in one context and apply them to different,but related situations.

• Planning - Children are taught to develop longer range goals and take steps toward bringing them about. They are also taught of the need to reevaluate their plans as new developments change the situation.

• Juggling Multiple Considerations Simultaneously -Children are encouraged not to become overly absorbed in any one consideration, but to try to weigh various factors all at once.

CIS support for schools in SlovakiaEvery school or Leisure time center joined to the project Chess in schools can get for free following material:

• Max.15 chess sets• 1 magnetic demo board• 1 set of books with chess methodic Škola šachu 1 (Chess school)

from Paleček, Muríň – textbook and methodical instructions for teacher

• 1 CIS promotional poster • Introductory one-day training for teachers, trainers• DVD with other information• BONUS for new teachers: Book Prvé kroky na šachovnici (First

steps on the Chessboard) from Ivan Paulička

CIS Chess set Magnetic demo board

Methodics (Paleček, Muríň) Poster CIS

Ivan Paulička – Prvé kroky na šachovnci

10 € package of the Premium CIS member contains at least:

• 1 textbook Škola šachu 1 (Paleček, Muríň).• CIS personal identify plastic card.• Individual membership in SŠZ for one year.

(and first transfer to any chess club for free).• Connection to the website PSM (Premium Student

Membership) FIDE (http://psm.slovakia.fide.com) with regular support (newsletter in english, slovak once per week, cca. 4 pages).

• Participation on the serial of chess tournaments the Grand Prix for the youth under favorable conditions.

• BONUS for children: first 500 children, who register themselves as the Premium CIS members get chess set for free.

ID card of premium CIS member

• Access to the PSM (Premium Student Membership) FIDE (http://sm.fide.com/site/regform/).

Free membership in CIS

• Basic membership in the CIS is free.• Support from the Federation – 1-2 pages of the chess information

per month.• Participation on the serial of chess tournaments the Grand Prix for

the youth.

How Chess federations and Chess clubs can profit from the Chess in Schools project?

• Expected growth and rejuvenation of the membership, sooner identifying of new talents

• Popularization of chess in the wider public

• More interest in media, sponsors, government

• Regular information about the status of „chess cells“ which is the basis for creating the database of them

• Contacts at school, work experience in the school environment

• Finances of CIS members who purchase a package, then full members of the federation

• Synergic effect, more members means more chess events, more opportunities to train, organize tournaments, arbiters, rating calculation, etc.

Important web sites of CIS

• http://cis.fide.com/• http://sm.fide.com/• http://www.chess.sk/index.php?str=sach_na_skolach• www.chessfriends.com

Peter Šťastný supports initiative Chessin Schools in European Parliament

Peter Šťastný, the Slovak ice-hockey legend, member of the NHL Hall of fame, was one of the first Slovak EMP, who supported Chess in Schools campaign in European Parliament.

On the email from the President of the Slovak Chess federation, Martin Huba he responded quickly and positively:

„I fully agree and I am very happy to support your initiative."

Thank you for attention !

Stanislav Vlčekwlk1977@yahoo.com