World Chess Day 2023: How Is The Day Important For Students? Facts & Significances Here

International Chess Day 2023: Today, the world is celebrating World Chess Day, a day dedicated to the brain game. On 12 December 2019, the General Assembly proclaimed 20 July as World Chess Day to mark the date of the establishment of the International Chess Federation, Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) in 1924.

While the day is being celebrated by millions of chess players around the world, we at Jagran Josh thought of bringing out the game’s advantages for our school goers. So, here we will take you through the history of Chess followed by its benefits for cognitive health. So, read on to know how the ‘Game of Thrones’ can help you achieve success in your academic endeavours.

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History of Chess

Chess is believed to have been invented in India in the sixth century under the Gupta dynasty. Then it was called Chaturanga, which was played on a board with 64 squares and used four types of pieces: chariots, elephants, horses, and foot soldiers. Chaturanga, which means four divisions, referred either to the four playing pieces or to the fact that the game was played by four players. Later it was named Shatranj when it arrived in Sassanid Persia around 600 CE. 

Chess, the latest version of the game was developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. After that, its rules were gradually refined with the addition of new pieces like the queen.

Know about Viswanathan Anand - Indian Chess Grandmaster

Viswanathan Anand is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion.  He is also the first grandmaster from India. 

Anand's achievements in chess are numerous, some of which are mentioned below:

• World Chess Championship(4 times) - 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012
• World Junior Chess Championship - 1987
• Indian Chess Championship (3 times) - 1986, 1987, 1988
• FIDE World Chess Championship -2000
• Classical World Chess Championships- 1995
• Corus Chess Tournament(3 times) - 2003, 2004, 2006
• Linares Chess Tournament(3 times) - 1998, 2007, 2008
• Dortmund Chess Tournament (3 times) - 1996, 200, 2004

All these achievements make Viswanathan Anand a true inspiration for all the youngsters making them believe that they with the aligned focus and hard work can also achieve anything they set their minds to.

Inspirational Quotes on World Chess Day 2023

Read below the quotes by some of the greatest players of Chess to understand the power of this brain game.

• "Chess is the art of analysis." - Mikhail Botvinnik
• "Chess is a sport that teaches you to think, to plan, and to make decisions." - Garry Kasparov
• "Chess is the gymnasium of the mind." - Blaise Pascal
• "Chess is the struggle against the error." - Johannes Zukertort
• "Chess is a game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels." - Viswanathan Anand

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Advantages of Playing Chess for School Students

Let us now move to the other section of this article, where you would understand why Chess is referred to as the gymnasium of mind. Chess has been proven to increase our IQ. The game engages all parts of our brain and helps improve cognitive skills. Thus, it helps prevent Alzheimer's and dementia, the terms used for memory loss. 

Some of the major benefits of playing chess for students include:

1. Improves Focus: While playing chess, you are required to align all your focus on the game and track multiple pieces at once. Thus, this helps you in improving your concentration power which is essential for school studies and exam preparations.

2. Boosts Memory: Since, you have to remember the moves that already have been played and anticipate future moves in the game, it works best to improve your memory. So, you can perform wonders in your exams with such sharp memory.

3. Improves Problem-Solving Ability: To become a winner in the game, you are required to come up with creative solutions to overcome the hurdles on the way and make good moves. This way you are trained to develop problem-solving skills that can be applied to other fields like Maths and Science.

4. Improves Spatial reasoning: The need to visualize the board and see how pieces will interact helps develop spatial reasoning. This is quite helpful for students to visualize three-dimensional shapes, understand geometric concepts, interpret diagrams, and analyze data. These skills are fundamental to comprehending scientific as well as mathematical concepts.

5. Improves Decision-Making: In Chess, one needs to make quick and accurate decisions to come up with the right move. Players are trained to be able to plan ahead and think about the long-term consequences of their moves. This improves your decision making ability which comes to be of great help while making choices in career path and education.

6. Reduces Stress: The challenge of the game can help to take your mind off of your problems helping you relieve stress. Thus, playing chess can be a great way to spend your study breaks for reducing stress and anxiety related to exam preparations.

7. Enhances Creative Skills: In addition to improving cognitive skills, chess also helps to boost your creativity as you always have to come up with new and innovative strategies to win the game.

There have been a number of studies showing the positive effects of chess on the cognitive skills of children. It has been found that children attending chess lessons show significant improvements in their problem-solving skills. 

Overall, chess is a great brain exercise that can have a number of benefits for your cognitive health helping you perform much better academically and non-academically as well. So, if you're looking for a way to improve your brainpower, chess is a great option.

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