Enhancing Verbal Reasoning of School Children through Chess Learning

Verbal reasoning embraces the collective ability of a person to comprehend the meaning of verbal information in whatever forms it is presented, enabling the individuals' thought processes consequently to further process the given information. It is the process of gathering information, analyzing, thinking, and evaluating it to form ideas, beliefs, and assumptions and widen knowledge on the particular subject. While the impact of chess training on intelligence, creativity, and working memory has been studied, its impact on verbal reasoning needs to be explored. This study examined the outcome of 1-year systematic chess training on the verbal reasoning of children. A pretest–posttest with control group design was used, with 70 children in the experimental group (mean age 11.05; SD 2.49) and 81 children in the control group (mean age 11.10; SD 2.37). The sample consisted of children studying in two government schools and two private schools (grades 3–9), which included both the genders. The experimental group underwent weekly chess training for an hour, while the control group was involved in other games offered in school such as cricket, football, hockey, etc. Verbal reasoning was measured by Binet–Kamat Test of Intelligence. The chess training intervention included Winning Moves Chess Learning Curriculum, video lectures, demonstration board learning, on-the-board playing and training, chess exercises through workbooks, and studying tactical and end game positions by case studies. They also recorded the games by writing score sheets and the games were analyzed. ANCOVA revealed significant gains in verbal reasoning in the experimental group compared to the control group. There was a significant improvement in overall intelligence, revealed by t-test for the experimental group. No significant interaction effects were seen between intervention and gender and type of school on verbal reasoning. The present study establishes a link between chess training and verbal reasoning. Strengthening verbal intelligence and reasoning skills leads to important outcome in the child's overall development and academic performance.