Do you know that a wooden chess set or an electronic chess game can make your children smarter? Do you know that playing the "game of kings" can make you smarter, as well?
Playing chess makes people smarter, and observations as well as studies in academia, and life in general, prove this. It doesn't have to be played on a wooden chess set, either--it's just that a well-made wooden chess set lends a creative, artistic angle to the whole experience of playing this historically royal, aristocratic game. Whether chess is played on a traditional chess set or an electronic chess game--it will make the consistent player of the game become smarter.
Children who play chess learn how to develop their decision-making, analytical, and synthesizing mental skills which transfer over to all areas of their lives. And as they learn to take part in thorough and deep chess research, they build up their self-confidence in their ability for doing academic research--and this especially becomes apparent in higher mathematics and reading comprehension test scores. Children today tend to have very poor attention spans, and a decaying education system doesn't help this very much. But playing chess is proven to be able to reverse this attention deficit and teach today's youth the lost arts of focus and mental discipline. Chess also teaches children how to accept and appreciate healthy competition.
According to D. Calvin F. Deyermond, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction at the North Tonawanda City School District, "Chess develops intellectual, aesthetic, sporting, decision making, concentration, and perseverance skills...Not only is it mentally challenging, [the game] attracts not only gifted pupils but also students at all levels of learning. Many students who have been experiencing problems, particularly in mathematics and reading, sometimes demonstrate remarkable progress after learning chess."
A wooden chess set or an electronic chess game, therefore, could be one of the best gifts you can give to your children. Sit down with them, play chess with them, and stimulate their minds. You, too, as an adult, can enhance your own cognitive powers and self-confidence with chess. This is why it's "the game of kings".
