How does one teach Chess for Girls as Well as Boys?

Students of either gender who already think a certain way, strongly analytically and visually, will thrive no matter how chess is taught, and students who are highly competitive are often motivated to learn. But students who think and feel differently than this model of the classic chess player are often bored or frustrated by chess as it is usually presented.

There isn't much literature on alternative ways of teaching chess, but there is for alternative ways of teaching math and science. There are several precepts that we can apply to teaching chess:

Encourage cooperative learning.

-- An early lesson that we learn is that the object of playing any game is to be able to say, "We had a good game" rather than "I won." The first day, the more experienced play against the less experienced, but with a twist. They play a simplified game with only pawns in which both players work together to find out how much of an advantage (by removing some pawns from the board) they should give the less experienced player so that they both can have a good close game.

-- De-emphasize winning. When a student blurts out, "I won!" two minutes after starting a game, I often respond, "I'm sorry to hear that. The game is over so quickly, it sounds like it wasn't a good, close game. What could you do to make the next game better?"

-- Play together. On the first day, our first game is half of the class vs. the other half of the class, and the littlest students get to move the pieces, advised by their teammates. Subsequently, I usually give the option of playing one's side with a partner or alone.

Emphasize chess as puzzle solving rather than as merely capturing pieces.

-- The classic chess puzzle is a "Mate in two": to show a board position and have students find two moves that guarantee a checkmate.

-- Set up a simple position, for example, three pawns vs. three pawns, and have students go through all the possibilities. Some students start thinking in tree diagrams: "If I do this, then they could do this or that, but if..." As the puzzle becomes compelling in itself, students lose their ego-involvement.

-- Occasionally, students play solitaire: one student at one board, trying to create the best possible game for both sides.

-- Emphasize problems in which the solution involves checkmate despite loss of or indifference to pieces.

Encourage verbal thinking.

-- "Can you describe what these two board positions have in common?" "Can you explain what was the turning point in your game?" Etc.

-- Before each player makes a move, have each say aloud what their thinking is behind making that move. This is for advanced cooperators only, as it demands that the students let go of winning for themselves and instead work together to create the best game that they can.

Emphasize aesthetics

-- Have students compose a chess position, say, a checkmate in one move in which a knight must give mate. Compare students' answers. Which is the most beautiful composition? Why?

-- Have music playing in the background during class.