Chess might be one of the easiest “analog hacks” we have for focus, calm, and deep learning in a world that’s constantly pinging our kids. Here’s a look at why it’s worth pushing your school to bring it back in a big way, plus a spotlight on The Knight School, a chess program we recently started stalking on IG 🤪.

Multiple studies have found that kids who play chess regularly show better problem solving, planning + math and reading performance than peers who don’t play. Researchers have also linked chess practice to stronger attention, memory, and metacognitive skills…the “thinking about your thinking” stuff that schools rarely have time to teach directly.

Most of our kids’ “downtime” is now on screens, which light up the brain but don’t always build patience or focus. Chess is the opposite: slow, analog, and completely present. When kids play over a real board, they’re reading faces, regulating emotions, and managing disappointment in real time, not through a controller or an avatar.

Psych peeps talk about “deep engagement” as an antidote to distraction and anxiety; chess is exactly that kind of deep engagement in kid sized doses. Instead of passive scrolling, they’re holding patterns in their head, planning ahead, and sitting with uncertainty for a few minutes at a time, which is basically practicing mindfulness.

If you have a kid with a squiggly brain, listen up. In a 2016 study of 100 school age children with ADHD, adding regular chess to a broader treatment plan led to about a 41% reduction in inattentiveness and overactivity scores. Other research on chess based training shows the biggest gains show up in attention and emotional/self control areas. Kids stayed engaged longer, made more thoughtful choices, and regulated frustration better.

Clinicians who use chess as part of ADHD support point out that the game trains sustained focus, working memory, and patience in a way that feels like a game, not therapy. Every time a child locks in on the board, evaluates options, and waits their turn, they’re literally practicing the neural pathways for attention, impulse control, and self regulation that they struggle with in the classroom.

If you’re going to lobby your school or PTO, you need more than “it’s good for them.” The good news: the data is on your side.

Kids who played chess once a week for 10 weeks showed significantly better results in math and reading compared with non‑chess peers.

Studies have found that chess players score higher on problem solving and metacognitive skills, which translate to stronger performance in subjects like math.

Research on early childhood chess programs shows gains in attention, memory, logical thinking, and abstract reasoning, skills teachers are desperately trying to build in the early grades.

Parents in large surveys report that chess helps their kids develop character, persistence, and emotional skills, not just “smart kid” vibes. And teachers in school-based chess programs say they see better cooperation, focus, and even behavior across the board, not just during chess time.

The science is pretty clear: the earlier kids get exposed to structured, playful problem‑solving, the bigger the long-term payoff for executive function and social-emotional skills. Preschool‑age kids don’t need full tournament rules; they need stories, characters, and simple patterns that get their brains used to planning and perspective-taking.

That’s why story‑driven chess like knights as horses, pieces as characters, every game ending in a high five, fits so well for ages 3–5. It hits imagination, language, and self-control at once, and it does it in a circle on the rug, not on a tablet. Programs that take this approach make chess feel like dramatic play with a side of strategy, which is exactly where preschoolers live.

The Knight School is one of the programs already on the ground in our neighborhood schools, and it’s built to feel like a party, not a silent library tournament. (Think fun, high energy, and a little silly.)

Here’s how they break it down:

Preschool: Story based chess for ages 3 - 5 where knights are horses, the board is a story map, and every game ends in a high five.

TK: A bridge class that starts layering in real chess skills through games, characters, and just enough goofy energy to keep kids locked in.

Elementary: After school clubs built around strategy, sportsmanship, and learning to think two moves ahead - in life as much as on the board.

Summer camps: Full days of chess, friends, and rotating weekly themes, so it feels more like camp with a mission than a grind.

Wherever your child jumps in, the through line is the same: fun first, focus and confidence as the side effect. Programs like this are especially powerful in communities like ours where parents want enrichment that isn’t just more screen time or test prep.

Right now, The Knight School is already in The Early Years School and St. Sebastian Preschool and is expanding to more campuses across the Westside.

Most school based chess happens in that murky “enrichment” zone that can be a logistics headache. The insider piece: a lot of it is PTO/booster territory.

Typical models look like this:

Nationally, large school chess programs report things like: over 90% of participating teachers want the program back, see gains in reasoning skills, and notice that kids apply “chess thinking” beyond the board. That’s the kind of stat that makes principals and PTO boards listen.

Here’s a quick script to adapt:

Lead with the why

Drop one or two data points

Tie it to “social emotional learning,” “executive function,” or “deep work,” depending on your admin’s favorite buzzword.

Offer something concrete

“The Knight School is already running programs at local schools like The Early Years School and St. Sebastian Preschool. They handle curriculum and coaches; we just need space and PTO support.”

If you’re reading this in Venice, Mar Vista, MDR, Playa Vista, or Santa Monica, you probably already juggle “how much screen time is too much” on a daily basis. Chess is one of the easiest levers to pull the other way: one board, two kids, 20 quiet minutes of actual thinking.

Ask your principal or PTO/booster club if they’d consider bringing in a structured chess program…ideally one that starts as early as TK and keeps going through elementary. Tell them you want more analog play that:

And if your school is looking for a plug‑and‑play option, point them toward The Knight School, already active and growing across the Westside.