Incidencia de la enseñanza del ajedrez en la asignatura de matemáticas

The present study set a goal to demonstrate the positive influence of chess on several areas of knowledge especially in mathematics.. The game was introduced in a systematic way at the ‘Hermano Miguel De la Salle’ elementary school in Cuenca to a group of 15 6th grade students in February 2012 during approximately a 5 month period. The results show that the game of chess improves the final grades in the subject of Mathematics, applying as hypothesis test the Student's t statistic for 95% confidence intervals. The group of children who learned and practiced the game of chess significantly improved its math scores compared to the group that did not receive the chess classes (20 students). For that reason, the "science game" is proposed to be applied in elementary and high schools as an alternative tool to improve the children’s mathematics performance for its easy application and its excellent shortterm results.