échecs LA DIAGONALE DU SUCCÈS - LES VERTUS CACHÉES DU JEU D'ÉCHECS

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LA DIAGONALE DU SUCCES - LES VERTUS CACHEES DU JEU D'ECHECS
Preface by Will Smith by ASHLEY MAURICE
Olibris, 2008, in-8°, paperback (cover slightly damaged), interior fresh, 236 pp.

Take two groups of students of the same age and ability level from the school of your choice. Teach chess to one group and have them practise it for a year or two. Compare the two groups again: you will find that the students who learned chess have made more progress than the others. Some will say this is a simplistic approach; everything depends on the context and what you measure. Of course, but when you find this same pattern from the Congo to Canada, via Venezuela, the Netherlands or the United States, among very young children as well as teenagers, and when you test numerical or verbal skills, critical thinking or creativity, IQ or emotional intelligence, you realise that this venerable game may well be an extraordinary educational tool. This is borne out by the numerous testimonies collected by Maurice Ashley. His own, first of all: he tells how his passion for chess gave meaning to the life of the idle teenager he was in Brooklyn. Those of his former students too, who found through chess the bearings that allowed them to straighten out compromised paths. Those, again, of the managers and actors in school chess teaching programmes, which have been multiplying in the United States since schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, to everyone's surprise, won national team championships. Finally, those of the children themselves, who, the true heroes of this book, shatter stereotypes. To explain how the practice of chess can develop various qualities such as focus, imagination, a sense of responsibility, self-esteem or respect for others, Maurice Ashley draws on approaches as varied as Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow, the 40 factors of personal development from the Search Institute in Minneapolis or Bloom's taxonomy. The book also contains numerous practical tips useful for organisers and anyone wishing to launch a chess-related activity. No prior knowledge of chess is required to read this book. And, as a convention between the French Ministry of National Education and the French Chess Federation aims to develop the practice of chess in schools, Maurice Ashley's book will be of interest to all educators, parents and citizens concerned with educational issues.