Overall in-charge: Ms Wong Luan Yin wong_luan_yin@moe.edu.sg Extn: 553

Second in-charge: Mdm Shirley Teo shirley_teo_siew_lee@moe.edu.sg Extn: 524

Teacher in-charge: Mdm Teo Soh Khim teo_soh_khim@moe.edu.sg Extn: 558

Teacher in-charge: Ms Goh Siew Huang goh_siew_huang@moe.edu.sg Extn: 537

Brief description of Chess Club

It’s not about the Kings, Queens, and Rooks, but rather, quadrants and coordinates, thinking strategically and foreseeing consequences. It’s about lines and angles, weighing options and making decisions. Chess might just be the perfect teaching and learning tool.

The goal of Kong Hwa School Chess Club (International Chess, Chinese Chess and Weiqi) is to use the game of chess as a tool, to increase higher level thinking skills, advance math and reading skills, and build self-confidence.

Research shows, there is a strong correlation between learning to play chess and academic achievement. A landmark study found that students who received chess instruction scored significantly higher on all measures of academic achievement, including math, spatial analysis, and non-verbal reasoning ability (Smith and Cage, 2000).

Chess have a positive impact on kids in school. Our students’ minds and thinking skills are developing rapidly, and chess teaches higher level thinking skills such as the ability to visualize, analyze, and think critically.

As children play the chess, they begin to see the importance of thinking ahead, trying to figure out what their opponent might do next and what their alternatives are too. This ability to anticipate outcomes can transfer to their reading comprehension. Students can predict outcomes, and realize that characters in their stories are interconnected, just as just as they and their opponent, and the pieces on the chessboard are.