By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

At-risk youth learn to play chess as part of unique University of Lethbridge research project

Feb 18, 2018 | 7:40 AM

LETHBRIDGE –  The University of Lethbridge is undertaking a unique research project involving a new program where some youth who are in the criminal justice system are being referred to the “Chess for Life” program.

The program aims to explore how learning to play chess affects the way youth think and the choices they make each day.

Dr. Lance Grigg, and associate professor in education spearheaded the idea to develop the program.

“I had a handful of youth. They came regularly, they youth were engaged and one of them even started playing chess online. It worked, and I got good reports from the people the kids were working with,” he explains.

The program began in mid-January with Grigg and several other experts at the U of L taking part. Chess instruction is provided on Friday afternoons to five young people ranging from 12 to 18 years of age.

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“There are a lot of rules to chess,” says Grigg. “In the first four moves along, there are over 300 billion options. So, there are a lot of rules that make possible a lot of creativity. Chess needs planning, you need memory and you need to be able to see the consequences of actions before you make them.”

The program will continue until the end of May and team members are applying for more funding in the hopes of continuing the program in the future, and possibly expanding it provincially.