In 1783, Benjamin Franklin received an invitation to play chess against a chess-playing machine called "the Turk." ... more
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The Chess Right Chess Shop on Squidoo
Chess Themes in Literature
Playing Chess
Paying the mortgage and keeping gas in the tank are a couple of those "must-have" items in the family budget. Having fun is often one of the line items that gets cut in tough times.... more
" ... Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions." --- Benjamin Franklin, 1786
Start strengthening the qualities of YOUR mind! Buy a chess set from our store today and play chess regularly.
Visit our store to buy the chess set that is just right for your game.
All chess sets are expected to contain at least 32 chess pieces
with sixteen pieces of each of two colors; each "team" should have a
king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, two rooks and eight pawns.
Some chess sets come with four queens. This "extra" queen is intended
for use in a maneuver called "pawn promotion."
The term "chess set" doesn't always means that a chess board is included.
There is no way to tell from the words, so it is important that you
know before purchasing a chess set whether or not the board is included.
If the set you are buying does not include a board, one will need to
be purchased separately.
Information on how to purchase the right board is provided elsewhere in
this blog. Please check that out!
Please visit our store to see
all our beautiful chess sets, chess boards and other chess equipment
for sale.
Visit our store to buy the chess set that is just right for your game.
Mastering the moves of the chess pieces is only a small part of the
game. Children as young as five have the cognitive development, the
eye-hand coordination and the dexterity to be able to move the six
different pieces around the chess board properly. However, becoming
skilled at the strategies for winning at chess requires a great deal
more.
Certainly, the first capabilities tested are the abilities to
concentrate and analyze. Any lapse in concentration or failure to
correctly analyze the situation on the chess board will most likely
result in a loss. All chess players experience losses, even the
grandmasters of the game, so players also learn the consequences of
their decisions, and to win and lose graciously.
There are more talents exercised through playing chess than just these
first obvious few. Studies conducted over the past thirty years have
been discovering that playing chess affects a number of aptitudes;
from spatial relationships to persistence and focus, exercising both
numerical and verbal skills, all working together when playing chess.
A 1992 study in New Brunswick, Canada found that primary school
children showed significant improvement in their problem solving skills
when chess was added to their regular mathematics curriculum.
Other studies, from Venezuela to Zaire, have found improvements in
students' memories and increased IQ scores among teenagers who play
chess regularly.
The benefits of playing chess are not confined to school age children.
In this Information Age, we are all bombarded continuously with incoming
information of all types from many sources, some more credible than
others. Data that used to take substantial commitments of time and
specialized skill to dig out is now available in a fraction of a
second from an Internet search on a home computer. The ability to
analyze and manage multiple considerations is a skill that can make
the difference between responding with agility to new situations and
becoming mired in information overload. These torrents of information,
whether the subject is managing your business or monitoring family
health options, must be met with critical thinking to sort out the
useful information from the spurious. Then, the new data needs to be
adapted into our current plan, as appropriate. Nowhere are these
skills (critical thinking, analysis, managing multiple considerations,
adapting to new data, decision making, and planning / thinking ahead)
better honed than from engaging in regular games of chess.
After all is said, chess is a game. In addition to exercising these
many abilities and skills, chess is still a moment of sportsmanship and
recreation. Playing games with people provides opportunities to
develop social bonds and offers a diversion from the stresses of the
day. With so many benefits, it's easy to understand why chess is
increasing in popularity. For years, people have associated playing
chess with smart people. Now, the evidence is suggesting that playing
the game of chess is not attracting smart people so much as it is
contributing significantly to the abilities and skills of the people
who participate in playing chess on a regular basis.
Buy your new chess set at our
store today, for yourself or for that special child in your life.
Together, we can make the world a smarter place -- one chess set at a time.