Should the teaching of chess become compulsory, because of its educational benefits?

They already tried it with pac-man

Where would they find all the chess teachers?

Why would anyone just assume that chess has any educational benefits - that's the real question. Unless you could produce some study showing quantitative results, as to grades, standardized tests, etc before and after a chess curriculum, why would you just think that somehow, chess has to be some sort of cure-all in education.  But the fact that so many chess players just assume by default it must somehow have these benefits, is itself a correlation I think between chess enthusiasm and lack of general analytical abilities.

Of course that doesn't mean chess shouldn't be in schools - in the states anyway there are extracurriculur clubs for all sorts of things.

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And also, at the chess tournaments I've been to, there's always been a lot of bearded, scraggly-looking people wandering about with a vacant look in their eye, but also they're really good at chess.  Don't exactly seem to be high-functioning generally though.

Two people whose school made it law to teach pac-man...

Why assume that a diet of junk food is bad for you?

It's been proven that shogi has even more educational benefits than chess. So do checkers and Monopoly. I think that these clearly useful activities should be forced upon every student because they will teach them so well. If we can get enough educational games into the curriculum, students won't even have to take math, language, history, or science classes because the educational value of shogi will make them automatically know it.

My favorite part is the Starbucks.

At first I had a nagging suspicion that it might be for real, but then I saw the Starbucks -  that's just overkill.

#5 I thought those two girl's candor was really refreshing - also their hotness.

Yeah, really. Those two are a good excuse for mandatory sterilization.

 Checkers? Don't be silly. Monopoly is more a game of chance. I don't know how to play Shogi, so you can't be right. 

No.

in denmark they have talked about making chess compulsory cause students who study chess gets better at math.
I don't know if it has been decided.
but I doubt that these 2 girls on the video would have acted a lof differently since they should have learned the value of what is yours and mine in their upbringing.

I don't think chess has any inherent benefit that a lot of things wouldn't have. Chess is simply a discipline, that requires a different manner of systematic thinking. Would it benefit most people? Perhaps. But so would reading, sudoku, poker, and most any other mental activity.

The other side is, it won't do any benefit at all if you don't put the time and effort in, and that requires some love of it. Who is going to do tactics exercises or endgame practice or opening study for hours if they don't love the game? It would just be another thing at school that kids ignore.

That is the true value of any extra curricular activity. They all contain lessons and benefits, even "soft" skills like teamwork, work ethic, determination, etc. But it doesn't work if you force it, they have to want it.

I think I'm in love!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS2Y3W5T4zM&feature=player_embedded

But, Rex, "money's money."  It is what it is. 

Around and 'round we go.