Chess-as-a-Learning-Tool Presentation at the North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented Conference

Educator and scholastic chess coach will present the rationale for teaching chess to gifted children and demonstrate the methods and strategies at the North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented Conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, March 17-19, 2005.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) March 6, 2005 -- Dennis A. Jones, a chess coach with Atlanta-based Championship Chess, will present More Than a Game: Chess in the Gifted Classroom" 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented Conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, March 17-19, 2005. The conference, whose theme is Creative and Innovative Thinking: Preparing for the Future," is expected to draw approximately 800 teachers of the gifted, educators, community leaders, as well as parents of gifted children. For more than 20 years, Championship Chess coaches have guided scholastic chess clubs that, consistently, have placed high in state championships.

Jones, a former classroom teacher, will demonstrate the teaching tools and strategies that enhance and accelerate learning and improve problem-solving abilities, expand math and reading skills, increase self-esteem and develop concentration and focus. He will also illustrate ways chess addresses cognitive outcomes: visualization, thinking ahead, thinking concretely and abstractly, weighing options and planning ahead.

He will also demonstrate the successful methods and materials of teaching chess that he helped develop with Stephen A. Schneider, who is the director of Championship Chess and the author of The Scholastic Chess Series. The Series includes Chess Basics, Chess Openings I, Endgames Strategies I and a chess readiness activity book, Color My Chess World, that introduces pre-chess activities to very young children. Schneider has been teaching chess to children for more than 30 years. Championship Chess coaches have made presentations to various educator groups throughout the country, including for other conferences on the gifted child, for staff development workshops and at home school conventions.

Chess as a teaching tool is quickly gaining ground in schools all over the United States. Studies conducted over the last 30 years show that students IQs increase and test scores improve after less than a year of systematic chess study.

Participants will learn tips for implementing an effective scholastic chess program that develops a lifelong learning pursuit for children and opens the door to the world of chess outside the classroom. Championship Chess clubs and their coaches have won local, state, regional and national awards and distinctions. Currently, Championship Chess players are ranked in the top 10 in the state of Georgia and the top 100 in the United States.

The coaches teach lessons in strategy and supervise chess play among public, private and home schooled students. The reproducible workbooks created for the Scholastic Chess Series are designed for students who are beginners in chess, as well as for those who play and are ready to improve their skills. Each of these titles has a supporting video with Coach Steve Schneider teaching key lessons that integrate with the print materials.

Chess Basics is the initial workbook for students. Step-by-step, it introduces the chess pieces one at a time, not only demonstrating how they move and capture but, also, how they work together. Chess Openings I introduces the openings that are most popular with beginning scholastic players, and Endgames Strategies I prepares players for the most common endgames of chess. In the spring of 2004, a Maryland chess coach, using the Championship Chess workbooks, steered her team on to win the Maryland Primary championship. A chess tactics book that builds upon Chess Openings I, and is ideal for the beginning player as well as the tournament player, is scheduled for publication later this year.

Also in the Scholastic Chess Series is Color My Chess World, a chess readiness activity book, with an accompanying music CD of short, fun songs that invite kids to dance and sing along, that builds the skills to make the introduction of chess easy ― and fun ― for very young children. Developed by certified early childhood educators and scholastic chess coaches, this program builds academic skills through chess activities designed to capture the interest of young children. Color My Chess World introduces children to the world of chess": the chessboard, chess characters" and chess play. Activities in the book introduce basic chess concepts while improving spatial skills, developing math and reading readiness skills, and reinforcing skills in listening and following directions.

Championship Chess is a division of Teachable Tech, Inc., an award-winning company of curriculum writers. Teachable Tech has designed curriculum for pre-K and K-12 for such diverse clients as the American Red Cross, the National Park Service, Social and Health Services in association with SAMHSA/HHR, CNN, Turner Broadcasting, ABC News, HBO and The Weather Channel.

For more information about starting a scholastic chess club and/or purchasing materials in the Scholastic Chess Series, contact:

Dennis Jones or Stephen Schneider
3565 Evans Road
Atlanta, GA 30340
(888) 328-7373 or (770) 939-4596
Fax: 770-493-1115
Championship Chess: www.championshipchess.net

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