The national educational project aimed at including chess in the school curriculum was presented in the Kazakh capital. It bears noting that chess is taught as an optional subject in a number of schools of the country. It is expected that in the future the project will be launched in other educational institutions as well. The work on developing teaching methods, studying the experience of other states, as well as training staff, is currently being carried out. These issues were discussed at an international conference in the city of Astana with the participation of FIDE representatives, international grandmasters, and experts in the field of education. Foreign visitors highly appreciated the national educational project, noting the great potential of the country in the development of chess sports, demonstrated by holding the World Chess Championship in Kazakhstan.
“It is very important for us to show that there are different kinds of educational programs that allow not only teaching children to play chess and raising future champions but also using chess as a game to teach children mathematics, computer programming, language, physical sports, and other subjects. Thus, chess can be an effective tool for teachers’ fruitful work,” said Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Deputy Chairwoman from Latvia.
“Our program is quite extensive and includes the training of future chess teachers and holding tournaments for children in schools, that is, school chess development. It develops children's intelligence, as they learn first to think and then to act, to be responsible for their actions, because what is important in chess is playing by the rules, which are very strict, and by mastering them children learn to live by the rules,” said Vladimir Barsky, chess books author, coach and journalist from Russia.
