Chess and the Future in Nigeria Chess as we all know is a game of logic and strategy. And it is generally believed that those who participate in the game are very intelligent or brilliant. Interestingly, it has been discovered that there is a great correlation between academic excellence and mastery of the game by children. Some Facts about Chess in other Nations Chess is part of the curriculum in nearly 30 countries, in Venezuela, Iceland, Russia and some other countries; chess is a subject in all public schools. A Venezuelan study of 4,000 second grade students found a significant increase in most students’ IQ scores after 41/2 months of systematically studying chess. This occurred across all socio-economic groups and for both males and females. The Venezuelan government was so impressed that all Venezuelan schools introduced chess lessons. The mathematics curriculum in New Brunswick, Canada is a text series called challenging mathematics, which uses chess to teach logic and problem solving from grades 2 to 7. Using this curriculum, the average problem-solving scores of pupils in the province increased from 62% to 81%. The South African president, Jacob Zuma launched a chess program in all South African schools in October 2010 tagged ‘Move for Life’. One of the biggest successes of the chess in schools programme is by the Turkish Chess Federation. Since the beginning in September 2005, the TCF has achieved its goal to make chess an elective course in all kinds of schools in the country. Primary schools and high schools started chess courses in September 2005, by the end of 2005 128,000 players were members of the TCF and 400,000 students were enrolled in chess courses in the country. The government of almost 70 countries has adopted chess in various ways and believes that exposure to chess training of the children who make the nation’s future is beneficial. Coming home, last three years has seen a great proliferation of the chess in schools programme and most schools especially in Lagos state are no longer alien to the game with some schools even running a curriculum based programme. As a result of this programme a lot of children now exhibit immense confidence and self belief; their self esteem is now at a rocket high. In class you see them analyzing concretely and giving logical reasons for their different choice of moves. It is usually a class full of intelligent debates. At age 5 and 6, the children already understand the basics of the game. Written by Jibola Olanrewaju