University City: Youth Chess Helps in the Strategy of Life

There’s something interesting in the way we all think, the way we strategize and comprehend what’s going on around us. Wouldn’t it be incredible if we honed these strategic thinking skills much earlier in life?

That’s exactly what Philadelphia’s After School Activities Partnership thought. The group believed that by introducing Philadelphia’s youth to the game of chess at an early age, their reading and problem solving skills would be better developed from early in their academic careers — especially when there is a critical need for quality after school-hour activities for city kids to involve themselves with.

“Research shows that chess improves strategic thinking,” Executive Director Maria Walker of Philly ASAP explained. “It improves academics. Kids who play chess have greater interest in school. They’re able to follow rules and guidelines better.”

Chess is also a great tool for discovering new ways to deal with conflict, with others as well as with your self.

“There’s also a sense of understanding the spirit of competition,” Walker said. “It really channels negative energy into a more positive competition style.”

Currently, ASAP has 281 chess clubs across the city, with a majority in public schools, equating to about 4,000 students playing chess weekly.

“It’s so powerful,” Walker explained. “Particularly for middle school kids who have a tendency to lose interest in school around seventh and eighth grade. We feel that chess in particular provides a hook for middle-school students, with the intention that hopefully they will want to continue into high school.”

According to ASAP’s president, Dr. Marcienne Mattleman, 45,000 citywide kids spend between 20 and 25 hours in solitude every week. The after-school hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. are the most dangerous hours for city kids and having chess clubs throughout the city is one step in the direction of keeping kids somewhere safe and exposing them to something productive.

ASAP recently hosted Philly Girls Play Chess at Drexel University, a girls-only tournament featuring teams of young female students from all over Philadelphia, including Parkside’s Blankenburg Middle School eighth-grader, Ellana Gaines.

“I’ve been playing chess at my school for four and a half years,” Gaines, 14, said. “I’ve won state trophies, national trophies. Anything I go to, I can win something.”

Chess is not a simple game to play. There’s a lot of planning involved, thinking ahead about what sacrifices you can afford to make and where you think your opponent will move next. Gaines agreed you shouldn’t map out your game plan. You have to be able to change your plan if your opponent surprises you with an unexpected play.

While the students in the tournament seemed too young to truly understand the game, it was inspiring to see their concentration and extreme patience with the game. Gaines played the last match to finish in the first round, well over an hour of playing time.

“It’s just about how my opponent moves,” she explained. “I think ahead. I see what they’re going to do and I plan my next move.”

ASAP runs several after school programs in Philadelphia including Scrabble, debate, dance and yoga, but the chess program has the largest number of participants. Windsor Jordan, director of ASAP’s chess program, believes in the program’s ability to build up students’ self esteem.

“Kids go to school in Philadelphia every day hearing ‘You’re not smart,’ ‘You’re dumb,’ ‘You’re not going anywhere,’” Jordan explained. “Our job is to combat that, and chess is a way of doing that by raising self esteem, raising self confidence.”

Jordan felt that the program has a positive impact on students because they have a positive outlook on life.

“Chess has been shown to help kids with their thinking, reading skills, math skills, ability to sit in front of a test and focus and take it,” Jordan said. “These are skills that can manifest playing the game, but there are always those intangible things: self esteem, being a part of a positive peer group after school, school pride and supporting the community.”

The students who participated in the tournament all come from diverse backgrounds. They have interesting reasons for playing and equally as interesting perspectives on how chess contributes to their lives outside of the match. Aniyah Powell, a fourth-grader at Blankenburg Elementary School who has played for four years, started playing to relate to the rest of her family.

“My cousins knew how to play chess and they were good at every sport,” Powell, 11, explained. “I wanted to learn something I could do too.”

Chess is a game of strategy and positioning. How you move your pieces across the board is like how we all should be making decisions in our everyday lives. Stop, think about it, weigh the possible outcomes and then execute your next move.

Philly ASAP realized this paradigm and continues to engage Philadelphia’s youth with its after-school programs.