KELIC CHESS ACADEMY

Chess is for smart moves. At KELIC, we love Chess for two reasons – for championship and to enhance learning. Our strong philosophy rooted in extracurricular activities create conducive learning environment to challenge conventional ones. Lead by national Chess players, KELIC play at the Center and with children with learning difficulty with a focus to improve on their academic performances in schools and the society at large. We hope to produce world Chess champions in the future.

Chess is a low-cost activity that has been shown to have positive educational and social benefits to all children. Playing chess can develop problem solving ability, pattern recognition and logical reasoning skills essential to mathematics. For the wider curriculum, Chess helps improve concentration skills, critical thinking and creativity. Chess helps children understand the importance of making positive decisions and for their consequences. It demonstrates to children that hard work can be rewarded by success. Importantly, it develops resilience and the ability to bounce back from setbacks. Equally significant are the social benefits brought about by children learning a shared activity that can be enjoyed with friends and all generations of their families. Taught correctly, chess can help develop sporting behavior, winning graciously and accepting defeat. A member of recent academic studies has focused on the effect playing chess can have on children with special education needs. While the numbers of studies that have been undertaken in this area is limited and the sample sizes are relatively small, the research support the notion that learning chess in a classroom setting can lead to improvements in concentration and behavior among children with a range of additional needs. There is also evidence that studying chess may have a positive influence on the achievement of these children in mathematics, and in numeracy and quantitative reasoning in particular.