On March 24 Battles Elementary School began offering a new addition to its list of after-school activities: chess lessons. The lessons are being held from 2:45 to 4 p.m., every Tuesday for nine weeks.
Author and chess instructor Robert Holland, better known as Dr. Chess, began playing chess in 1972, and he realized the similarities chess shares with football.
“The pawns are linemen, the king is the quarterback; you go get the quarterback,” said Holland.
After discovering his love for the table sport, he began mixing chess with teaching actual academia.
“I was an elementary school teacher in the ’80s, and I knew chess would reinforce the other subjects. I took the curriculum from other subjects and just created my own curriculum with chess, and I have been doing it ever since,” Holland said.
As Holland became more enticed by the game, the character idea of being Dr. Chess emerged, and he implemented Dr. Chess into his teaching and wrote several books based on the persona. The character’s story parallels Holland’s: Dr. Chess was on his way to being a quarterback in college but had a horrific knee injury. He then found himself being taught chess, and gravitated toward it because it reminded him of football.
“In the books, he is met with resistance because forces of evil don’t want smart citizens or kids,” Holland said.
Holland has been teaching chess at Central Coast elementary schools for about 20 years. Over the years, he’s been active in most cities across the coast, but focused more on San Luis Obispo County in the early 2000s. Now, he’s coming to Santa Maria.
Carlee Gruver, principal of Battles Elementary, is one of the pieces behind Holland’s recent move to Battles Elementary.
“My son has been attending the program at Shell Beach Elementary since kindergarten, and it has been wonderful for my own child. One of my goals when I became a principal was that they [Battle’s students] had the same opportunities as the children in my home,” Gruver said. “It has really helped with my son’s critical thinking skills and has made him excited about chess. He is not a very sports-oriented child, and it gives him companionship without it being sports identified.”
Holland stresses that chess is another form of learning and can help children with math and science because the game itself is about solving the ultimate problem.
“The No. 1 thing about chess is that it promotes logic. I like to think of chess as being futuristic because you have to make plans. You have to directly connect different aspects of the game in order to produce a victory,” Holland said.
“It is an unlimited reservoir of lessons that you can do for your lifetime,” Holland added.
Dr. Chess teaches classes to the general public on Saturdays at the First Methodist Church in Arroyo Grande for $7 per student and $3 for each additional sibling. For more information, or to have him come to your school, contact him at 461-4627 or doctorchess@doctorchess.com.
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 2, 2015.