ChessCheckZine is an independent editorial site. It is not a club, an association or an official body, and it sells no products. It is aimed at parents of children aged 4 to 12 who wonder whether and when to sign their child up for chess, at primary and maths teachers looking for a project, a scheme or an exercise, and at secondary school pupils who want to understand a worked solution.
What you will find here
The site began as a single page on the links between chess and mathematics. We have rewritten it and developed it into three parts:
- Chess and maths: the main page, Sissa's chessboard, the chessboard puzzles, the Shannon number and the maths notions.
- Chess at school: texts and schemes, Class'Échecs, educational project, nursery school and resources.
- Parents: the age to start, the benefits, the studies and the mini-games.
The rules of the game, openings and choosing a chessboard are not covered here: we concentrate on the educational angle.
Our method
1. Studies are cited with their authors, their year and their limits
When we cite a study, we give its authors, the journal or body that published it, its year, its sample size and its result as the authors word it, together with the limits they acknowledge. We do not turn a modest result into a promise.
2. Schemes are described from their official sources
Information on Class'Échecs, the agreement between the Ministry of National Education and the French Chess Federation, or the Eduscol resources comes from these bodies' official pages, or from signed articles that cite them. When two sources give different figures, we say so and indicate which is the more recent.
3. Calculations and puzzles are checked
Calculations (powers, counting, masses) are redone and set out in detail. The chess positions offered as puzzles are legal and their solutions have been checked move by move, including the traps (stalemate) and multiple solutions.
4. What is not sourced is not written
Many claims circulate about chess and children's intelligence. When we cannot find a serious source for them, we do not repeat them, or we present them for what they are: teachers' observations, not demonstrated results.
External links
Some pages link to articles or products from Le Palais des Échecs, a specialist online shop, when they usefully complement the subject at hand. These links are flagged in the text. The other bodies cited (ministry, FFE, online platforms) are mentioned for information only, with no partnership.
Reporting an error
Has a figure changed, a scheme evolved, a solution looks wrong to you? School curricula and schemes change quickly: we update pages as soon as an official source changes. The date of the last revision appears in each article's data.