Chess in the Public Interest. Working Paper 1. School Chess in the EU after the 2012 Initiative

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1 Chess in the Public Interest Working Paper 1 School Chess in the EU after the 2012 Initiative Federations and experts in 18 out of 28 EU countries answered a questionnaire on the state of school chess in their country. The effect of the initiative by the European Parliament in March 2012 has, by common consent, been estimated as providing no more than moral support. Getting political support and securing funding are the priorities of chess federations in regard to school chess, followed by training education professionals to teach chess. While several federations have made school chess their main priority for now or at least are investing significantly in it and claim to have a well-developed school chess strategy, some federations give it little or no importance. Clubs could use school chess better in all countries. The highest participation rates are currently found in Denmark and Sweden, where nearly all school chess is offered by regular teachers. In all other countries, chess players play a significant role. This survey is the first working paper of Chess in the Public Interest, a think tank initiated by Leontxo García and the author, to promote the use of chess for societal benefits. Its immediate purpose was to inform the London Chess and Education Conference on 7 and 8 December By Stefan Loeffler stefan@chess4society.com

2 Eighty percent of EU Represented in this Survey The questionnaire comprised 14 questions. A few asked for numbers and relative shares. Most questions included multiple answer suggestions, some of which invited prioritised multiple answers. I estimated that a well-informed school chess co-ordinator of a federation would take ten minutes to complete the questionnaire. The questions were ed to all EU chess federations in late October. If there was no reply until the given deadline 25 November, I approached experts outside the federation in some cases and included his or her eventual reply. All replies received up to two days before the conference have been included in the analysis. The questions were answered by experts from 18 out of 28 member countries, representing about 80% of the EU population. The countries included are Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. France is the only populous country missing. This analysis does not claim statistical significance. The analysis must be described as pragmatic. The main purpose of the survey was to inform the London Chess and Education Conference on the state of school chess in the EU, and on trends and developments regarding to school chess within federations. Therefore this working paper had to be completed under time constraints. Empirical Uncertainty Exact numbers on school chess are hard to come by. Less than a handful of countries can base their answers on a national survey. We are expecting Austria and Poland to publish their figures shortly. When asked for the number of pupils in school chess, all but one respondent chose to give a minimum and a maximum estimate rather than a single number. In half of the countries, the ratio between the low and the high estimate exceeds 2:5. How many school students in your country are learning or playing chess in schools in a typical school year? If the number is uncertain, please give a pessimistic (minimum) and optimistic (maximum) guess.

3 Sweden and Denmark in the lead About 1% of school students in the EU take part in a school chess activity. This estimate is aggregated from replies about the total number of pupils who participate in any kind of chess offered at school and the assumption that about 14 percent of the EU population is in school. In the majority of countries between 0.3% and 1% of pupils participate in a school chess activity in any given school year. In a few countries the rate is even lower or slightly higher. Among the countries in the survey, only in Sweden and Denmark exhibit participation rates higher than 3% of the school population. Among countries not in the survey, according to a 2011 estimate by the French Ministry of Education, 400,000 school students participate in any chess activity in a given year. The participation rate must be distinguished from the exposure rate. A school chess activity is typically pursued for one or two years and in many cases for longer. The total exposure to chess during the years spent at school will therefore be at least five times, probably eight times as much as the current participation rate. A fair guess is that at least one in fifteen current school students in the EU will have taken part in chess by the end of their time in school. And we have reason to expect this to grow significantly. Please think of the development of the last five years, since Has the number of school students who learn or play chess in schools in your country decreased significantly stayed about the same (-20% up to +20% compared with 2008) increased significantly but not doubled (+20% up to + 100%) at least doubled (+100% or more)? Increasing Participation in School Chess Two thirds of the countries report increases or very strong increases over the last five years ( ). In one-third the participation is estimated as stable. No country reports a decrease of school chess activities. Regarding an estimate of the development within the next five years: no one fears a decline until 2018 and three countries expect the current rate to be stable. Nearly all others expect a significant growth of 20% - 200%. Numbers are expected to more than triple in Hungary, where chess has been introduced as a voluntary subject in some schools and probably in all elementary schools by 2014.

4 While being mostly an after school activity, nearly all countries in the survey report some share of chess as a mandatory or voluntary subject. Please estimate the share of school students who are learning or playing chess in schools in your country (percentages should add up to 100%) grades 1 to 4 % grades 5 to 8 % grade 9 and up % Chess Goes Strong in Primary Schools A huge majority estimates that half or more of the current participation in school chess is in Grades one to four. The exceptions are countries with a longer tradition in school chess and a stronger basis in gymnasiums, where dedicated teachers have been offering chess for a long time. Even in these countries, the reported primary school share is not far less than half. Please estimate the ratio of education professionals without club chess background versus club players among those who teach chess in schools in your country: Huge majority or all are chess players The majority are chess players About half and half The majority are education professionals Huge majority or all are education professionals Education Professionals and Chess Teachers Share the Work In half of the countries, school chess is more often organised by club chess players than by education professionals with little or no chess background. In the other half, it is about even or educators are in the lead. Only Denmark and Sweden, the countries with the highest participation rate, report that nearly all of chess instruction is by education professionals. This suggests that strong growth in school chess has to be based on regular teachers and educators. Chess players who are experienced chess teachers can probably assume a bigger role in training, supporting and supervising education professionals with little or no chess background.

5 Please rate the effect of the Initiative of the EU Parliament in March 2012 to bring chess into the school system in your country: No effect Only moral support More support from the education system More funding for chess in schools Huge effect EU Initiative has yet to be Translated to Concrete Support In early 2012, a majority of the members of the European Parliament signed an initiative to include chess in schools. The initiative was led by the Kasparov Chess Foundation Europe with support from the European Chess Union. Its acceptance was seen as an important milestone and signal, even though it has no binding effect on education policies or funding decisions. The effect of the initiative translated to "only moral support" in nearly half of the countries, and four countries saw no effect. A more positive view is taken in Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden, which claim the education system has become more supportive. Not a single country chose the answer "more funding". Only Poland sees a "huge effect" in spite of the lack of national funding for an ambitious new programme, but explicitly mentioning the demand for EU funding for school chess. What do you consider as the main obstacle(s) for school chess in your country (you can give more than one answer, please rate by 1, 2, 3...) Lack of political support. Lack of funding. Lack of teaching materials. Lack or chess teaching training for education professionals. Chess teachers without education degree are not allowed Too many primary teachers are scared to teach chess. Something else: Lack of Funding, Political Support and Teacher Training Impede Growth Asked about the main obstacles, two-thirds of the federations and experts chose lack of funding, half mentioned the lack of political support and the lack of chess teaching training. Five countries think that many education professionals are too scared by chess to teach it. One expert thinks that increasing leisure options works against school chess, another considers the missing support for teachers as the main obstacle.

6 What is or are your federation s prioritie(s) in developing school chess in your country (you can give more than one answer, you can rate priorities with 1, 2, 3)? Getting political support Raising money for chess in schools Improving support for education professionals who teach chess Bringing chess into the academic teacher training system Developing teaching materials Developing digital materials and structures for school chess Quality assurance and/or certification of chess instruction Making sure that talented school students will enter chess clubs Getting political support, raising money for school chess and improving the support for education professionals were then the most frequent priorities claimed by federations. Bringing chess into the academic teacher training is a topic in six countries. Only five countries mentioned that talented pupils should enter clubs. Rate the importance of developing school chess for your federation No or very low importance. School chess is dealt with by clubs and/or regional federations. A topic for the school and junior chess coordinators. Occasionally a topic for the board. A frequent topic for the board and area for investing Our federation s number one priority at the moment. Growing Importance but also Disagreement on School Chess In two countries, school chess is considered of no or very low importance to the federation, in three countries it is being dealt with by clubs and regions, or school and junior chess coordinators. Three countries report that it is occasionally a topic for the board, while six claim it to be a frequent topic and an area where the federation is investing. The federations of Slovakia, Romania and Sweden consider school chess to be their number one priority at the moment. What describes best the approach of your national federation to school chess We have no real approach and certainly no strategy. We have different intentions than clubs or regional federations. Our motivations and projects sometimes conflict with each other We have a well developed strategy.

7 Four federations claim to have a well developed strategy towards school chess, and another four admit to having no real approach or strategy at all. However, the most frequent answer to this question was 'conflicting motivations'. Signs of a Divide between Scholastic Chess and Club Chess In slightly more than half of the countries there is at least one organisation other than the federation dealing with school chess. In half of these cases there is no cooperation between the national chess federation and these organisations. In Denmark the school chess organisation is even many times bigger in staff and budget than the chess federation. This is the clearest but not the only example of a divide between a growing scholastic chess movement, which is focusing on bringing the students educational benefits, and competitive chess, which is using school chess mainly as an entry point to attract junior club members. Please rate how good chess clubs in your country are at bridging the gap between school chess and club chess: There is no or very little interest among clubs in school chess. Lot of improvement is possible. Some improvement is possible. We are happy with the current efforts. But how well are clubs using the opportunity of growing participation in school chess at an increasingly younger age? Most countries report that there may be considerable scope for improvement. In three countries, clubs do not seem to be interested in school chess. Not a single federation or expert claims to be happy with the effort of clubs.

8 The author is indebted to Chess in Schools and Communities and its Director Malcolm Pein for staging the London Chess and Education Conference "Successes and Challenges - Improving School Chess Research, Practice and Strategy" and hiring him as its Director. John Foley and Leontxo García have added comments and helped in editing. Thanks for contributing to the survey go to Yuri Agafonov, Margit Brokko, António Caramez Pereira, Neill Cooper, Goran Dizdar, Giuliano d Ereditá, Daniel Escobar, Jesper Hall, Mads Jacobsen, Riho Liiva, Ferenc von Maurer, Walter Rädler, Gerard Reilly, Vlad Ungureanu, Niki Varholakova and Margarita Zielinska. Chess in the Public Interest Leontxo García leontxo@chess4society.com Stefan Loeffler stefan@chess4society.com Chess in the Public Interest has been created by Leontxo García and Stefan Loeffler to make the best out of chess. More than a game, chess is called a sport, a science and an art. We believe that chess can also be a powerful social tool. Clubs and federations focus on developing chess as a sport. Theoreticians write on the ins and outs of the game s possibilities, first and foremost its initial position. Top grandmasters create master pieces on 64 squares. Historians, collectors and cultural institutions keep its rich heritage alive. Recently, a vibrant school chess movement is championing its use in education. Scholastic chess, as we prefer to call chess for educational benefits, is where our journey starts. We have come to believe that chess has yet more to offer to society: in the prevention of dementia, in the rehabilitation of convicts, in helping children with autism or learning disabilities, and in many other ways. The return on investment in social chess projects can be tremendous. Reflecting on the social impact of competitive chess we also suggest ways to make chess as a sport sustainable. Chess in the Public Interest is at the service of federations, organisations, public institutions and benefactors.