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Kids master the game of chess -
Summary:
Harry Potter helps kids think playing chess is cool
Article:
Thanks to
Wizardnews
When Valentina Lokhova asked how many of her 22 chess students saw the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer," several hands shot up in the air Saturday.
She then showed the group of attentive children how the young boy in the movie beat a chess champion -- by trapping the king and queen in one move -- and revealed a strategy of her own for teaching them how to play chess.
"We use a lot of references to "Harry Potter," "Star Wars" and other movies to get the kids excited about the game of chess," she said.
The excitement is growing. Since Lokhova started Chess Wizards at Gorton Community Center in 2001, class has become one of the more popular programs for children, said Gorton program director Kimberly Moss.
Lokhova said chess teaches invaluable skills like sportsmanship and concentration to 43 students, ages 3 to 12. They take her beginner, intermediate and advanced level 10-week classes, whose costs range from $120 to $150, on Saturday mornings at Gorton.
This past Saturday, the intermediate class spent the first 20 minutes playing each other before students received instruction from Lokhova. In one match, 3-year-old Noah Radic of Highland Park battled another classmate for victory on the chess board.
"That's a bad move!" yelled Radic.
He stared at the board, took his pawn and captured his opponent's more valuable rook.
Parents like Ed Nicewick of Lake Bluff see the benefits of having children play chess early on. Nicewick said the Gorton class gives his sons Charlie and Alexander the opportunity to interact with other children while learning to think logically and strategize.
The success of the program is evident in the results of a recent chess tournament. In November, Lokhova's students took second place in the K-3 category at the National Youth Chess Championship in Rockford.
Moss said Lokhova is the main reason for the program's popularity.
"There are other chess programs on the North Shore but the quality of her instruction is unsurpassed the area," she said. "She makes these kids have a great time and want to do well."
At age 8, Lokhova learned chess from her father in her native Russia, where she became a chess champion. She came to the United States as a teenage exchange student. While attending Lake Forest College, she met a Gorton board member who helped her set up a chess program at the Center.
She has since expanded the program to other areas on the North Shore, and the trend among children to play chess is catching on nationwide.
Of 90,000 members at the U.S. Chess Federation, 75 percent are under age 15, while adults made up the bulk of the membership 20 years ago, said director Joan DuBois.
"They learn how to look ahead," she said. "It forces them to sit, think, plan ahead and gain self-control."
Lokhova said it helps when children see their favorite characters playing chess, as Harry Potter recently did in a movie.
"Kids adore Harry Potter and whatever he does is obviously very cool," she said.
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