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Why Children Should Learn How to Play Chess

Jamie Ritblat is the founder of Delancey Real Estate, the real estate development and advisory company who are long-term sponsors of the Delancey UK Schools’ Chess Challenge, an initiative launched with the mission of helping children to have fun and learn, play and grow into happy, smart and confident young people. The attached PDF provides more information about the Delancey UK Schools’ Chess Challenge and its role in inspiring over a million children to challenge themselves with an exhilarating cognitive workout, playing a game that dates back more than 1,500 years.

The benefits of children playing chess are numerous. Exercising both sides of the brain, chess is a strategic game that requires players to think analytically, weighing up all potential moves, outcomes and alternatives for each possibility. A study carried out by Robert Ferguson, American Chess School in Pennsylvania executive director, revealed that children who played chess scored 13% higher in critical thinking than children who played computer games and 35% points higher in creative thinking.

Chess is a game of planning, foresight and problem-solving, requiring players to constantly assess changing variables, weigh up all of the possibilities and formulate a plan. Studies show that playing chess regularly can help children to significantly improve both their visual memory and concentration. The embedded video takes a closer look at the game of chess and its history.

Rewarding concentration and penalising lapses, chess encourages children to focus on the game at hand. It also requires participants to use cognitive functions such as analysis, decoding, thinking and comprehension, which are all important skills required for reading. Research shows that young people who play chess regularly score an average of 10% higher in reading tests versus children who do not play. The attached infographic contains some interesting statistics about chess.

To become successful at chess, participants must hone their ability to foresee multiple outcomes and possibilities, enabling them to formulate a successful game plan. This requires players to think ahead, planning where they need to position their pieces in order to block, trap or capture their opponent’s pieces and claim victory. The ultimate goal of the game is to capture the opponent’s king, an accomplishment that requires practice and planning.

In an age where many children are spending vast amounts of time looking at screens, chess provides a fun, exciting and mentally stimulating alternative that has been shown to actually improve cognitive function. In addition, the game provides an opportunity for young people to connect with others, particularly their parents, which has been shown to have a powerfully positive impact on mental health and wellbeing.

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Sir David Attenborough Makes Appearance at Delancey Real Estate Project Site

Founded by Jamie Ritblat, Delancey Real Estate is a leading name in UK property development and asset management today, having completed successful projects across London, overseeing £20 billion in property transactions to date. This article will look at the Earl’s Court Development Company site, a project overseen by Delancey Real Estate, which received a surprise visit from Sir David Attenborough on 20th April 2023.

The BBC Earth Experience is an exhilarating, audio-visual journey that features epic footage from the renowned television series Seven Worlds, One Planet, which is narrated by Sir David Attenborough. This immersive experience invites viewers of all ages to discover the wonders of Planet Earth. The attached PDF contains more information about the Seven Worlds, One Planet television series.

About the Seven Worlds, One Planet BBC Series

At the new Daikin Centre in Earl’s Court, audiences were treated to exclusive footage, including extended scenes, which was projected on multiple screens using the latest digital screen technology.

Visitors to the Daikin Centre enjoyed 360-degree audio-visuals, guiding them on a journey through some of the world’s most impressive landscapes and bringing them face to face with some of the most fascinating wildlife on Planet Earth. The experience enabled visitors to observe species from every corner of the world, from snub-nosed monkeys in Asia to a spectacular display by fireflies in North America to hungry hamsters fighting for food in Europe. The attached infographic contains some interesting conservation statistics in 2023.

Conservation Statistics in 2023

Speaking about the project, Mat Way, Global Director of Live Entertainment, Gaming and Interactive for BBC Studios, confirmed that the BBC was delighted to join forces with Moon Eye Productions and Live Nation, bringing the BBC’s pioneering natural history content to the amazing live immersive location in London for everyone to enjoy.

Moon Eye Productions Chief Creative Officer Frederik van Alkemade explained that the company’s aim is to create new experiences that leave guests ‘moon-eyed’ in wonder. Leveraging the world’s finest natural history series, courtesy of BBC Studios, Alkemade was confident that the company could achieve that goal through its first immersive event, collaborating with BBC Studios to transform the content into a spectacular 360-degree audio-visual experience.

The Daikin Centre is a purpose-built demountable venue situated in London’s Earl Court. It was created by Earls Court Development Company as part of its vision to ‘bring the wonder back to Earl’s Court’, with the attraction adding to broader site plans that celebrate the legacy of world-class ingenuity, creating a better place in the city. The embedded video contains more information about the Daikin Centre.

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How Can Chess Help Shape Young Minds?

Jamie Ritblat is the founder and chairman of Delancey Real Estate, a company that has pioneered the UK real estate development industry through advising on exciting real estate investments and developments such as its East Village project, which helped to transform the former Olympic Village in Stratford, London, into a thriving community of more than 3,000 homes. The attached PDF contains more information about East Village.

Delancey Real Estate's Commitment to Legacy and Innovation

Delancey Real Estate was proud to sponsor the Chess in Schools & Communities scheme. Thanks to Jamie Ritblat’s generous support, which started in 2011, the UK Chess Challenge was able to establish itself as the world’s largest children’s chess tournament.

Over the UK Chess Challenge’s lifespan, some participants have developed from novice players to full England internationals, and through sponsorship of the Chess Challenge through his business, Jamie Ritblat has helped introduce chess to thousands of young people, with 44,000 taking part in the challenge each year.

This article will explore the various cognitive advantages of young people taking up chess.

A game synonymous with intelligence, chess has been shown in many studies to help improve cognitive ability, improving mental health, memory function and IQ. By exercising both sides of the brain simultaneously, chess sparks higher levels of creativity, increasing problem-solving capabilities in participants and even reducing the risk of degenerative cognitive conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Chess is played all around the world today, with participants ranging from young to old. The game may seem complex, but in fact, anyone can learn, sharpening their cognitive skills and having fun in the process. The attached infographic contains some interesting facts about chess.

Interesting Facts About Chess

A large study conducted in Venezuela involving elementary-school-aged children showed that,  after just four and a half months of studying chest, participants benefited from a significant increase in IQ. The study revealed the power of the game in stimulating growth of dendrites in the brain, increasing the brain’s speed and overall performance.

Benefits of learning to play chess include improved memory function, with players memorising moves that helped them in the past in order to improve their performance, as well as remembering which moves to avoid. Playing chess stimulates the right side of the brain, the region associated with creativity, as well as the left side, the part responsible for methodical and analytical thinking.

The attached video takes a closer look at how playing games like chess can help to protect participants from degenerative brain disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.