![\"John](\"https:\/\/learningchess.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-Adams-Austrlian-Chess-Federation-LearningChess.png\" "\\"John")
<\/a>John Adams – Picture: Kym Smith<\/p><\/div>\n
Management consultant and former political adviser John Adams. \u2018Chess improves cognitive ability and that in turn has strong relationship with economic growth\u2019.<\/p>\n
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Fresh from espousing the economic virtues of chess at an international Chess Conference in London, John Adams believes Australia\u2019s falling educational outcomes and sputtering productivity growth could be helped by a greater focus on playing chess in schools. \u201cI\u2019m not saying it\u2019s a \u00adsilver bullet but there is definitely a public policy role for chess that policy makers shouldn\u2019t discount,\u201d he says, pointing to a range of studies that show chess playing has improved students\u2019 maths and problem-solving abilities.<\/p>\n
A management consultant and former political adviser to cabinet secretary senator Arthur Sinodinos, Mr Adams is also government relations director at the \u00adAustralian Chess Federation. He says Australia\u2019s \u201cweak chess culture\u201d is holding back its economic \u00adpotential.<\/p>\n
\u201cChess improves cognitive ability and that in turn has strong relationship with human capital and economic growth,\u201d Mr Adams says, noting that a range of countries such as Hungary and Denmark had made chess mandatory or at least optional in primary and high school. \u201cArmenia is leading country where the president is also the president of chess association as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The board game, whose modern rules emerged in Europe at least 500 years ago, forces players to think strategically in order to \u201ccheck mate\u201d, or defeat, their opponents and can last hours or even days. The Soviet Union once boasted of its chess prowess to signal its superiority at mathematics.<\/p>\n
A former chess champion himself from Kanahooka High in Wollongong in southern NSW, Mr Adams credits his chessplaying as a student with helping him succeed at 4-unit maths \u2014 the highest level \u2014 in year 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that if you put a mouse in a complex maze their brains become more developed \u2014 and humans, if they are \u00adchallenged mentally, will develop better mental capacities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Adams said countries\u2019 economic success in the 21st century would depend on their ability to harness the intellectual talents of their workforces, to innovate and solve intellectual problems in contrast to the physical work that dominated production in the 20th century.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Percentage of university graduates with STEM degrees<\/p><\/div>\n
Australia\u2019s standing in OECD league tables that measure students\u2019 aptitude across countries has plummeted over the past 15 years, from 6th to 19th in maths, 7th to 16th in science and 4th to 13th in reading literacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re so focused on the \u00adbudget etc, but we are ignoring a major structural problem in our education system that will have a tremendous impact on our human capital,\u2019\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n
The Turnbull government\u2019s \u00adrecent suite of policies to boost \u00adinnovation entails $1 billion of tax breaks for investors and extra funding for research, but overlooks the benefit of chess.<\/p>\n
Mr Adams says attempts in Australia thus far to attract public interest in chess had failed \u00adbecause they focused exclusively on the educational benefits rather than the important link to economic growth and development.<\/p>\n
Original article: The Australian<\/a>,\u00a0January 11, 2016 12:00AM<\/p>\n Author:\u00a0Adam Creighton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kings, queens and bishops are part of the solution to Australia\u2019s 21st century economic challenges, but not the monarchical or religious variety \u2014 chess, if more widely played, has the potential to boost innovation and economic growth, according to one avid player. Management consultant and former political adviser John Adams.<\/p>\n\t\t