A Research Agenda for Scholastic Chess

Fernand GobetDepartment of Psychological Sciences

Overview of Talk

A research agenda The question of transfer: better data needed Mechanisms involved should be understood How to optimise chess instruction

Contents of chess instruction Chess lessons based on the school curriculum Why not include other games?

A Research Agenda

The Question of Transfer Do the skills acquired in learning chess transfer to

other domains, such as mathematics? Chess community: Yes Scientific community: We don’t know

Gobet and Campitelli (2002) Systematic review of literature on transfer and chess

teaching Disappointing results Few scientifically valid studies Only a couple of studies were peer-reviewed No clear evidence for transfer

Obviously, more research carried out since 2002 But Gobet and Campitelli’s basic conclusions are still

valid For example, two more recent studies have different

results Scholz et al. (2008) : transfer Thompson (2003) : no transfer

The Ideal Experiment

Random Allocation

Pre-test Pre-test Pre-test

TreatmentGroup

No-change Group

Placebo Group

Post-test Post-test Post-test

Additional pluses Participants blind to

the goal of the experiment and even that they participate in one

Teachers and experimenters blind as well

Standard design in Education Medicine

This design has never been used with chess instruction!

This is disappointing Many opportunities to do so

Only one study had a placebo group Fried and Ginsburg (1979) Children with learning difficulties Placebo group attended counselling sessions

But a placebo group is needed Allows one to reject the effect of unspecific factors e.g. participation in experiment; experimenters’ expectations

Mechanisms Behind (Potential) Transfer Non-specific to chess

Chess teachers are highly motivated and passionate

Topic is novel and different to standard schools activities

Chess is a game, and thus fun Chess is a competitive activity Chess shows that school can be fun and

interesting This why a ‘placebo’ control group is needed

Playing video games Learning to play Go

Mechanisms Behind (Potential) Transfer Factors specific to chess

Diversity of pieces help maintain attention Chess offers an optimal trade-off between

complexity and simplicity Balance between tactics and strategy is ideal Chess combines numerical, spatial, temporal and

combinatorial aspects These factors foster

Attention Learning Problem solving and decision making

Optimisation of Chess Teaching Many parameters have not been systematically

studied Optimal duration of a chess lesson? Optimal number of sessions of chess instruction?

Too short, not enough time Too long, diminishing returns

What are the most efficient teaching methods? With computers or without computers? Group vs. individual activities Etc.

Order of covering the material

Optimisation of Impact Make sure that all children (at least most) profit from

chess Non only the smart ones Non only the competitive ones

Material suitable for adult education

Content of Chess Instruction

Typical Chess Instruction Most chess programmes

Take chess as starting point Do not go beyond chess For example:

Rules of the game Basic tactics Basic strategy Some openings etc...

Why not start from the school curriculum, at least in part?

Obviously, needs to be adapted to the level of the children This would increase the likelihood of transfer

Instruction Based on School Curriculum

Example 1: Mathematics Basic arithmetic

Value of pieces Control of squares

Cartesian geometry Coordinate system (a, b, ..., h) x (1, 2, ..., 8)

Geometric series One places one grain of rice on the first square,

two on the second, four on the third, and so on, doubling each time. What is the total?

or

Geometry Euclidian vs. city-block distance Reti (1921)

Combinatorics How many paths

can a rook take from square a1 to square h8 if it can only move up and to the right?

The solution generates Pascal’s triangle (Meijer, 2010)

Example 2: History Development of civilizations

Through diffusion paths of chess Key events in history

Reflected in modification of rules, changes of names of the pieces

Reflected in theories of chess (e.g. Role of pawns in Philidor’s theory and French Revolution)

Using Other (Board) Games Some aspects of the school curriculum might

be better illustrated by other games Awele (Tano, 1985)

Counting Basic arithmetic Modulo arithmetic Concept of a one‑to‑one correspondence

Bridge (Minibridge) Numbers and operations Probability Reasoning and proof

Go Counting Combinatorics

(Wikipedia)

Summary and Conclusions (1) Transfer of chess instruction should be

established scientifically More and better data needed (ideal design!) Results should be published in peer-reviewed

scientific journals This is needed to ensure quality of research

Mechanisms behind (potential) transfer should be studied Chess-specific vs. Non-chess-specific

Summary and Conclusions (2) Chess instruction should be informed by

school curricula Other games could be added to teach

specific points