Apply Now For Chessable Research Awards

This special guest blog post by Dr. Alexey Root, Woman International Master and Chief Science Officer at Chessable, is aimed at teachers, parents, and administrators in K-12 schools, as well as university students and faculty members.

Chess enriches students’ learning in the fine arts, math, reading, science, social studies, and writing. With ChessKid.com and lesson plans from my books, classroom teachers can incorporate chess while meeting curricular goals. Undergraduate and graduate students may win Chessable Research Awards for their chess projects in multiple subject areas, allowing them to combine various fields of study with chess.

Chess and Education

Across the United States, there are many after-school and extracurricular chess clubs. Some K-12 schools include chess as a separate subject during the school day. In those schools, a student might take a daily, twice-a-week, or weekly chess class for credit, like taking an art or music class. Some schools offer chess during advisory or homeroom periods, when character education and study skills are often taught.

U.S. Curricula

In Armenia, chess is a mandatory school subject for every child over the age of six. In the United States, the national government does not mandate K-12 curricula. Each state sets its own curricular standards, prioritizing subjects that students take national standardized tests in, such as math and reading. While an individual school or school district might introduce a chess elective, most schools offer classes in the fine arts, math, reading, science, social studies, and writing.

A collection of chess books written by Dr. Alexey Root.

Lesson Plans and Activities

I wrote books with chess lesson plans linked to state standards and to national guidelines in those subjects. Some activities in my books require no chess knowledge, others require knowledge of all the rules of chess. Each book is written for teachers with no prior chess knowledge.

For example, no chess knowledge is required for a social studies lesson about King Ferdinand funding Columbus’s voyage, possibly due to King Ferdinand’s good mood from winning a chess game with a hint from Queen Isabella. But teachers and students eager to understand the included apocryphal chess position, which can be seen below, will want to brush up on their chess skills using ChessKid.com.

White to move and checkmate in four.

Chessable Research Awards

When I became Chessable’s Chief Science Officer in April of 2022, I expanded my vision of chess enrichment to the university level. The Chessable Research Awards are for undergraduate and graduate students conducting university-level chess research. Chess-themed topics may be submitted for consideration and ongoing or new research is eligible. Each student must have a faculty research sponsor.

Each winning undergraduate student gets $500, and their faculty research sponsor also gets $500. Each winning graduate student gets $1,000, and their faculty research sponsor gets $500. There are three cycles of Chessable Research Awards given each year. For more information, please go to chessable.com/research_awards.

You can also read about the winners of the Spring 2023 Chessable Research Awards at the Chessable site. Apply for the Summer 2023 cycle by March 15, 2023. The cycles will continue (Fall 2023, Spring 2024, etc.), promoting more research about chess in a variety of subject areas.