
Johannesburg - South Africa's educational system could be more successful if it invested in teaching pupils to play chess, Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov said in Johannesburg on Thursday.
“Chess is a great educational tool... it helps kids to build universal skills, it is (about) mental discipline, it is logic and it is emotional control. When it is (taught) in school, it boosts attendance because it is fun,” he said at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit.
“I saw the effects that chess had on every level of society, whether you do it in slums or in the most prestigious schools.”
The game boosted confidence, especially in children from underprivileged families.