Chess – a great stimulus for brain development

Chess is one of those games that has many positive effects on the health of children and adults. It is the best and most popular mind game in the world, with great effects on thought processes.

Reasons why it’s good to play chess

1. Improving memory

Having a good memory in today’s flood of information is both challenging and very difficult to achieve. The brain is automatically selective to remember only the most important information, so a lot of it can flash past us in a flash. Chess is the world’s most difficult mental game and is therefore rightly called “the game of kings”. The best chess players in the world are considered to be very clever and able to memorise a huge amount of information.

2. Promotes brain development

The game of chess is demanding and requires a lot of thought processes. As the brain recognises this as a challenge, it is a great stimulus for the growth of dendrites, which are outgrowths of nerve cells that are responsible for taking in information from neighbouring cells via synapses. The more dendrites a person has, the faster, better and more efficient the neural communication with the brain.

3. Improves creativity and problem-solving skills

Chess is a great stimulus for creativity, but it also strengthens problem-solving skills – first how to face a problem, and then how to solve it.

4. Increases IQ and stimulates the development of the brain hemispheres

According to research, chess significantly increases IQ, while also influencing the development of both the right and left hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for logical thinking, rationality, analytics, mathematics, and is constantly planning and analysing, while the right hemisphere is intuitive, visual and imaginative.

Chess enables development:

– Focus, patience and perseverance,

– visualisation and design,

– weighing options, being systematic, thinking scientifically, being precise,

-logical reasoning,…

When to encourage children to play chess?

Teach children about the basic rules of the game teach from 4. years onwards. That’s when they strive for independence and authenticity. Chess should be presented as a fun and relaxing game, not as a challenge. Games must be shorter, and the game must not last longer than half an hour. In the period from 5. to 6 years of age many children already participate in a chess club or chess club. At this age, a child is already able to master the game of chess and learn the basic rules of the game. You can already teach them how to anticipate steps, how to make smart moves and how to attack with a figure or defend.

Don’t hesitate to encourage your children to play chess. Discover chess, Unikatoy, the perfect choice. You can find it here.