Games are great for teaching various ways of thinking and being in the world. Monopoly teaches cutthroat strategy; Dominion teaches you to pay attention to how actions interact with each other; Trivial Pursuit encourages the valuing of knowledge about the world; Werewolf can teach about interpersonal skills and group relationships. Even Fortnite has its place, teaching creative strategizing and divergent thinking – paying attention to multiple stimuli at once.
What I love about chess (at the moment, I’m playing 2-4 games daily with my kids) is how it teaches focused thinking. I simply cannot give any focus away from my chess game and have hope of winning against my nine-year-old. I can’t simultaneously play chess and have my phone out, or be making breakfast, or be reading a book.
Neither can my kids. And that’s the beauty. Every time they play chess, they learn how to keep their mind singularly focused on what’s right in front of them. In a world built around distraction, I think that’s a marvelous skill to build.