By the thirteenth century it was played throughout Europe. The first chess instruction manual was written in 1561. London, England was the site of the first international chess tournament in 1851 and world champions have been recognized since that time. Chess can serve as a common denominator to bridge age, race, culture, socio-economic, and gender barriers. Players from across the world play one another via the Internet.
Chess is good for children.
It is now part of the curriculum at thousands of schools in nearly 30 countries around the world. New Jersey enacted a bill making chess a regular course offered in all of their schools. Numerous studies have demonstrated that chess participation by students increases strategic thinking, problem solving, math, and verbal skills. This study reflected chess instills a sense of self worth and confidence, results in higher overall grades but especially math and english scores, built a sense of team spirit while emphasizing the individual's ability, taught the value of hard work and commitment, and made students realize the consequences of their own actions.