Chess Clinic Teaches Analytical Skills, Problem Solving

They are stationed on each of the modified chess board's four sides – three students and the expert – all playing one game. James Della Selva, the expert (and that's not a subjective assessment but an official U.S. Chess Federation rating), has forfeited his queen and a rook to help level the checkered playing field for his grade-school pupils. He's also using a quarter in place of a missing pawn, and when one of the youngsters captures it, the boy's pride in his accomplishment indicates the coin has just exceeded its 25-cent worth.

This is Chess Clinic, a weeklong program at the Wellesley Recreation Department's Warren Building, and while the atmosphere is fun (the kids relish Della Selva's chess stories, in which he creates voices for the pieces) it also is serious. Della Selva, a two-time Rhode Island state champion, begins each two-hour session with a lesson about game strategy.

"They're learning how to be analytical," he said. "There's a mathematical aspect of the game. … They're also learning sportsmanship and problem solving."

The four-way game is just one of several twists on traditional chess that Della Selva introduces to his students. Another is double buggy team chess, which involves teams of two playing separate games. A player who captures a piece from her opponent can then donate the quarry to her teammate.

Della Selva also incorporates novelty chess sets, like the glass one he showed off Thursday morning or the super-sized floor set he says is a hit with the kids.

Chess is a full-time gig for the thickly bespectacled Della Selva. He teaches clinics like this one throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut – when he isn't competing in tournaments. And while he's one of the few who can make a career out of a gameboard, he believes the fundamentals of chess benefit every student he instructs.

"I could show you books with studies that show chess is beneficial for children, that it improves their math and reading skills," Della Selva said. "For those who keep playing, the goal is to beat me. If not now then eventually, in the future."