Mozek Games | Chess

BECOME A

CHESS

MASTER

LEARN CHESS TODAY FROM SOME OF OREGON’S BEST

1. It can raise your IQ

At least one study has shown that moving those knights and rooks around can in fact raise a person’s intelligence quotient. A study of 4,000 Venezuelan students produced significant rises in the IQ scores of both boys and girls after 4 months of chess instruction.

2. It exercises both sides of the brain

In a German study, researchers showed chess experts and novices simple geometric shapes and chess positions and measured the subjects’ reactions in identifying them. They expected to find the experts’ left brains being much more active, but they did not expect the right hemisphere of the brain to do so as well. Their reaction times to the simple shapes were the same, but the experts were using both sides of their brains to more quickly respond to the chess position questions.

3. It increases your creativity

One four-year study had students from grades 7 to 9 play chess, use computers, or do other activities once a week for 32 weeks to see which activity fostered the most growth in creative thinking. The chess group scored higher in all measures of creativity, with originality being their biggest area of gain.

4. It improves your memory

Being a good player means remembering how your opponent has operated in the past and recalling moves that have helped you win before. But there’s hard evidence also. In a two-year study in 1985, young students who were given regular opportunities to play chess improved their grades in all subjects, and their teachers noticed better memory and better organizational skills in the kids. Students who had never before played chess improved their memories and verbal skills after playing.

5. It increases problem-solving skills

A chess match is like one big puzzle that needs solving, and solving on the fly, because your opponent is constantly changing the parameters. Nearly 450 fifth-grade students were split into three groups in a 1992 study in New Brunswick. The group taking chess the longest had their grades go up y 21% more than groups not supplementing with chess.

6. It improves reading skills

In an oft-cited 1991 study, Dr. Stuart Margulies studied the reading performance of 53 elementary school students who participated in a chess program and evaluated them compared to non-chess-playing students in the district and around the country. He found definitive results that playing chess caused increased performance in reading.

7. It improves concentration

Looking away or thinking about something else for even a moment can result in the loss of a match, as an opponent is not required to tell you how he moved if you didn’t pay attention. Numerous studies of students in the U.S., Russia, China, and elsewhere have proven time and again that young people’s ability to focus is sharpened with chess.

8. It teaches planning and foresight

Having teenagers play chess might just save their lives. It goes like this: one of the last parts of the brain to develop is the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for planning, judgment, and self-control. So adolescents are scientifically immature until this part develops. Strategy games like chess promotes cortex development and help them make better decisions in all areas of life, perhaps keeping them from making a stupid, risky choice of the kind associated with being a teenager.

JOIN A CHESS CLASS TODAY

Select from one of our great class options below.

Basic
Intermediate

BASIC

This camp is for kids who want to start playing the great game of chess, but presently do not know the rules or are unfamiliar with the basic rules of the game.. They will learn the pieces, set up, and rules of the game. They will also be introduced to basic principles, tactics, and opening themes of this great game.. Small class sizes and our experienced coaches will teach kids to start off playing the right way.

Find my Class

1st – 8th Grade

INTERMEDIATE

Students learn about various chess openings, typical middlegame strategies, frequent tactics, and endgame techniques to improve their game. Students apply these techniques playing real games that are reviewed by coaches to help them improve and build on lessons learned each day. Students will also have fun playing blitz, bughouse and giant chess.