Chess and Mathematics Performance of College Players: An Exploratory Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the performance in Chess and in Mathematics of the college players in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. Specifically, it aimed to determine the respondents’ mathematics and chess performances, their playing styles and their beliefs regarding chess players and mathematicians. The descriptive correlational research design was utilized in this study and the data gathered by the researcher were tallied and tabulated using frequency, percentage, mean and Pearson’s r. Furthermore, open-ended questions were used to solicit remarks/comments from the respondents regarding the role of chess in enhancing their thinking skills. It was found out that the general weighted average (GWA) in Mathematics of the respondents was above average. Most of them are barangay/school level champions. Males are tactician type of players while females are positional players. A respondent who performed better in higher chess competition also performed better or obtained higher GWA in Mathematics. Furthermore, the respondents believed that a chess player can be a good mathematician especially if they start playing early in life and if chess was a part of the school curriculum since playing chess continuously has helped them in developing and improving their problem solving and critical thinking skills.