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Two Books by Dr. Alexey W. Root, WIM Reviewed by Rick Kennedy
You’ve seen all those bumper stickers saying “Chess makes you smart.” You’ve read about the chess-playing students at Edward R. Murrow High school, and their gifted coach, Eliot Weiss, in Michael Weinreb’s The Kings of New York. You’ve been impressed and inspired by Grandmaster Maurice Ashley’s experiences in Chess for Success, and you’ve gotten a good glimpse of Orrin Hudson’s One Move at a Time: How to Play and Win at Chess and Life. You’re psyched. Now there are only a few teeny tiny hurdles to clear, such as convincing your principal, and maybe the Superintendent and perhaps the School Board. Oh, and addressing State Standards for education.
Fortunately, Women’s International Master Alexey W. Root – make that Doctor Root, too, as in “PhD” – has been there, and done that. Children and Chess A Guide for Educators is just that, a book that provides plenty of solid explanations highlighting the value to students of learning and playing the royal game. Where necessary, the language of chess is translated into the language of education. Contents:
Foreword by
Dr. John D. Mc Neil
Contents:
Foreword by
Dr. Max and Hiroko Warshauer I particularly appreciated Dr. Root’s focus in Science, Math, Checkmate on scientific inquiry and problem solving. In the past few years I have run several “Chessboard Math” groups in a local elementary school, focused on identified “at-risk” 3rd and 4th grade students whose math computational skills were adequate, but whose effective application of those skills – problem solving – was lagging seriously behind in development. Chess helped. A lot! Too, as past chess World Champion Gary Kasparov’s Kasparov Chess Foundation, and past Women’s World Champion Susan Polgar each have come out with school chess programs, it is interesting to see Dr. Root compare and contrast the two. Both Children and Chess A Guide for Educators and Science, Math, Checkmate target teachers. Their curriculum focus makes them effective elements for adults teaching chess to students, rather than books for students to pick up and learn chess from on their own (although the pictures, diagrams, and language are both friendly and chess novice friendly). Simply put,
if you are teaching chess in the classroom, Alexy W. Root’s books are
indispensable. |
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And finding
some lesson plans. Those would help, too.
With
Science,
Math, Checkmate, sub-titled 32 Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem
Solving, Dr. Root gives further encouragement, ideas, plans and support to
the classroom teacher. If’ you’ve been using Children and Chess A Guide for
Educators for any length of time, you’re already thinking “What’s next?” or
“Where do I go from here?” and are ready for Science, Math, Checkmate.
