Idaho leads the way on chess education

An interesting article from the New York times  regarding a state-wide chess curriculum for 2nd and 3rd graders.  Seems like a great idea.  Hopefully it catches on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/us/20chess.html?em&ex=1206244800&en=74360cb218fbabf7&ei=5087%0A 

I would not conclude that Idaho "leads the way" simply becausee they are now adopting a curriculum that has been used in the Puget Sound for most of a decade.

Moreover, when the State Superintendent declares there have been "no studies showing that teaching chess has benefits for children," he reveals how poorly thought out the implementation has been, despite the collaboration of AF4C.

In 2003, America’s Foundation for Chess conducted a comprehensive survey of the world’s scientific literature and identified numerous research studies that confirm the benefits of chess instruction on students’ academic performance, especially math and reading.
AF4C Research