Chess isn't popular in schools by accident. Research points in the same direction: chess trains skills the way running trains cardio. Here's how — and how we build for it.
When a child plays chess, they exercise the same abilities they use in math, reading comprehension and problem solving:
These are skills the curriculum demands — and that are hard to train in isolation without becoming boring exercises. Chess is fun and trains them on its own.
The most cited overview of research on chess in schools was published in Frontiers in Psychology:
"Chess instruction shows a moderate positive effect on pupils' mathematics skills (d ≈ 0.38) and overall cognitive ability (d ≈ 0.34). The effect increases with training volume; approximately 25–30 hours (one lesson per week over the school year) is a meaningful-effect threshold."
Sala, G., Foley, J. P., & Gobet, F. (2017). The Effects of Chess Instruction on Pupils' Cognitive and Academic Skills: State of the Art and Theoretical Challenges. Frontiers in Psychology.The authors themselves note that few studies used active control groups, so a placebo effect can't be fully ruled out. We cite the effect honestly — it's not a miracle, but it's a measurable improvement.
We didn't invent chess in school. The Swedish Chess Federation has run "Chess in school" as a national initiative since 1993.
The most well-known part is Schackfyran — a national tournament for grade 4 described as one of the world's largest school chess tournaments.
Schackappen isn't an alternative to this tradition — we're a tool teachers and parents can use to meet kids where they are, the same way many schools already use chess books and physical boards.
Chess in school at SSF →Lgr22 (Sweden's national curriculum for elementary school) highlights problem solving and logical thinking as central — especially in math grades 1–3.
"Strategies for mathematical problem solving in everyday situations."
— Central content, math grades 1–3, Lgr22"Students shall be able to solve problems and put ideas into action in a creative and responsible way."
— Overall school goals, Lgr22Source: Skolverket — Lgr22
We didn't invent chess. We designed how we teach it.
Most chess programs start with "here's the board, here are the pieces, learn the rules". That's dry for a 7-year-old.
We start in The Forest. Then the child meets The Viking (rook), The Dragon (knight), The Bishop, The Queen, The King. Each saga teaches a piece and a basic tactic through story — the way children have always learned.
Many children grades 1–3 haven't started typing yet. Catch Words integrates keyboard training with chess — type the word, get the move.
Two school subjects in one exercise. Doesn't exist in any other chess app, as far as we know.
Stockfish is the world's strongest chess AI. Default setting: brutally hard. We've throttled it so it matches the child's level dynamically.
When the child wins, the AI gets harder. When the child loses a lot, it gets easier. Never frustrating, never boring.
We have stars and 27 achievements. But no daily "streaks" that stress the child into coming back. No time-limited offers. No "lucky boxes".
Reward for actual progress, not for forcing engagement.
Try Skolschack directly — no account needed for the demo mode.