Bringing chess into the classroom: 'It's not just playing a game'

Felicity Steers says her third-graders are learning math, critical thinking, and sportsmanship alongside chess.
Author: Tami Tremblay
Updated: 7:04 AM MST February 25, 2021
NEW PLYMOUTH, Idaho — When kids learn to play chess, they can also learn to think deeply about the decisions they make in life. Felicity Steers stands by that philosophy and that's why she rallied to get the game of chess into her third-grade classroom at  New Plymouth Elementary School.
"There are so many things that go along with chess," Steers said. "It's not just playing a game. At the very basic level before you put the pieces on the board you are learning graphing skills, Knight to E4, and you have to be able to find those coordinates. So even before the pieces are there there's math involved. Definitely, critical thinking skills, knowing how many pieces to move, thinking ahead, that strategy, a lot of advanced math is multiple steps so having that step by step game of chess backs that up."

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