Middle School Chess: Something We Should Focus On

One of the most concerning statistics shared by USCF president Ruth Haring in her August 2014 report was the dramatic decrease in middle school chess players in our country.

This slide from her report really tells the story:

 

There is a very pragmatic reason why this drop-off occurs. Once a child enters middle school, a plethora of extra-curricular opportunities await, ranging from team sports, band, academic teams (math, scholar’s bowl, robotics, cyber-security, etc.) and after-school clubs for every potential area of interest. It can be hard for chess to compete with the conflicting schedules of other after-school activities.

Middle school is a pivotal time in a young person’s life. High school graduation rates are affected as much by what occurs in the middle school years as anything else. Our superintendent of schools has stated on more than one occasion that “whoever wins the battle of middle school wins the education war.”

One of the ways to win the battle is to ensure students are engaged and find a place to belong. Additional extra-curricular activities, creative scheduling, and elective courses are just some of the ways to engage students.

Instead of viewing all of the extra-curricular opportunities as a hurdle, embrace the opportunities for what they are—a way for middle school students to find places to fit in and stay in school. Chess can still play a vital role at this age. And at this age, chess becomes even more relevant as it teaches students to anticipate the consequences for every action.

Reach Students Who Have Never Played Chess Before

Although it is exciting to see the increase in elementary students playing competitive chess, everyone in elementary school is not playing chess—yet. :-) There are far more students entering middle school who have not played chess.

So as students find where they fit in, it is the perfect time to include an introduction to chess elective class. In our school system, we introduced a 9-week intro to chess class at both middle schools this year. Students who enrolled in this class ranged from those with some familiarity with the game to no knowledge at all.

The ChessKid.com curriculum and online program are utilized to deliver instruction to our students at multiple levels. The ability for students to access the program from desktop or laptop computers, iPads or Android tablets, or smartphones makes the program ideal for middle school students. During the first day of the class, when the students were introduced to the ChessKid.com program in computer lab, I heard “oooooh” and “This is so cool!”

This is not an easy age to impress, so those comments were a good sign.

Although there are numerous after-school activities for middle school students, not every student has the ability to stay after school and arrange transportation home. The opportunity to learn chess during the school day introduces the game to students who might not otherwise ever learn to play.

Retain Students Who Played Competitive Chess in Elementary School

There are two ways to improve the retention rate of competitive elementary chess students once they enter middle school:

1. Offer a competition chess elective in middle school.

2. Get creative as to when the middle school competition chess team meets.

For the same reason that an elective intro to chess course taught during the day will reach more students, a competition chess elective like those taught in the New York public school system can pay huge dividends. Elementary students who competed in after-school clubs will enjoy taking an elective from an experienced and knowledgeable chess coach in order to get to the next level in their competitive chess play. If your school system can devote the resources to this endeavor, it can have a huge impact.

Creative scheduling of competition chess team practices can also help retain chess students. Don’t try to compete with other after-school clubs. Our middle school chess teams train together at 5:30 p.m. on Fridays in a building next to the football stadium so students can walk over to the Friday night football game when practice is over.

This is Alabama, after all. Instead of competing with football, our kids have been known to show up at the game with their chess sets and play if the football game gets too one-sided. 

 

I have season tickets, and I don’t want to miss any home games, either. Your team may decide to meet on a Sunday afternoon. Get creative and find out when your kids can meet.