ST. LOUIS (AP) - More schools in the St. Louis area are introducing the game of chess to their students.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1GxFn20) reports that thousands of students at 135 public, parochial or private schools in St. Louis are learning and playing chess through extracurricular clubs or programs.
Teachers and parents say that playing chess helps students learn focus, problem-solving skills and patience.
Several programs give students the chance to pit their chess skills against the skills of others after school, but a few schools are considering moving chess into the regular school day. Some schools already teach chess as a part of math or their in-school study skills sessions.
Chess has been linked to higher academic achievement. The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis have begun to collect data to research the outcomes for area schoolchildren.
"Not every kid is a sports player or musical. We needed something else," said Jan Zinsser, who started a club at McGrath Elementary in Brentwood five years ago. "I think you have to catch them young."
Fifth-graders Jonas Walls and Corinne Fox were playing each other recently.
"Every time you play, it's different," Wall said. "You can't always do the same thing."
The expansion of chess in the city follows St. Louis' rise to prominence on the national and international chess scene.