Chess Teaches Kids to Take Smart Risks

By Lalit Akhade, Founder & Head Coach, ChessMates Academy · Published 2026-10-01 · 6 min read

The Brave Move Nobody Taught Her

Picture a nine-year-old frozen over a position in a chess lesson. She has a safe move that kept everything exactly as it was. She also has a bolder move that might win a piece, or might lose one. She looks up at her coach, who just smiles and says, "Your call."

That tiny moment is what this post is about. Chess quietly trains one of the most useful skills a child can build: weighing a risk, choosing, and living with the result.

What the research actually found

Researchers from Monash University and Deakin University in Australia ran a field experiment with more than 400 Year 5 students who had never played chess. The children took part in a 30-hour chess program, endorsed by the World Chess Federation, spread over about three weeks.

The team then tracked the children for nearly a year. They looked at things like risk-taking, time management, mathematical ability and focus. One headline result: children who had regular chess lessons and kept playing were less risk averse than their classmates. The researchers also reported gains in arithmetic and rational thinking.

Here is a fair way to read that. "Less risk averse" does not mean "reckless." It means the children were more willing to take a sensible chance instead of always choosing the option that feels safest. For a child who freezes when a test question looks hard, or who never raises a hand unless certain, that matters.

One honest caution: this is one study, and every child is different. We would not promise your child a personality change from chess. But the finding fits what coaches see at the board.

You can read more about the wider academic picture in our guide on how chess improves math skills.

Why chess is a safe place to practice risk

Most risks in a child's life have real costs. Fail a test, lose a friend, look silly in front of the class. Chess offers something rare: a risk that is real but small.

When a child sacrifices a pawn for an attack, the stakes feel big in the moment. But the worst outcome is losing a game, and a new game starts in two minutes. That is the perfect size of failure for learning.

Over many games, a child learns patterns like these:

A bold move that was well prepared often works.
A bold move made from panic often fails.
A "safe" move can quietly lose, too, because passivity has a cost.
Losing a piece is not the end of the world. It is information.

That last point is the big one. Children who play lots of chess slowly stop treating a mistake as a verdict on who they are.

Risk is really about estimating, not guessing

Good chess players are not gamblers. Before a bold move, they run a quick mental check. A good coach teaches kids a simple routine:

What do I gain if this works?
What do I lose if it fails?
What is my opponent's best reply?
Can I afford the worst case?

Notice that this is not a chess skill at all. It is a decision skill. A child who learns to ask "what's the upside, what's the downside, can I afford it?" can use the same four questions when choosing which hard problem to attempt first on a math paper, or whether to try out for the school team.

We also teach a related habit of checking before moving, which you can read about in how chess teaches kids to catch their own mistakes.

The clock teaches a second lesson

The Monash and Deakin team also measured time management. Chess is a natural trainer here, even without a clock. Every move is a small budget decision: how much thinking is this position worth?

Kids tend to fall into two camps:

The sprinter moves instantly and blunders.
The over-thinker spends ten minutes on move three and then rushes the ending.

Both can improve. We help sprinters slow down on critical moments, and we help over-thinkers move quickly through routine positions like the opening. That balance, spending effort where it counts, is exactly what a child needs during an exam.

How parents can support this at home

You do not need to play chess well to help. Try these small habits:

Ask about the decision, not the result. Instead of "Did you win?", try "What was your hardest choice today?"
Celebrate a brave try that failed. If your child went for an ambitious plan and lost, say you liked the courage. That keeps the willingness alive.
Resist rescuing. When your child is stuck over a move, let the silence breathe. Struggling for thirty seconds is the training.
Link it to real life lightly. "That's like when you tried the harder swimming group" works better than a lecture.
Keep losses normal. Treat a lost game like a lost game, not a tragedy. Your tone teaches more than any lesson.

What to look for in a chess class

If you want these benefits, the quality of the teaching matters a lot. A class that only drills memorized openings will not build decision skills. Look for a coach who asks "why did you choose that?" and who reviews games with the child instead of just pointing out the right move.

Small groups and regular feedback help too. If you are comparing options, our piece on questions to ask a chess instructor is a good checklist to bring along.

The bottom line

Chess will not turn a cautious child into a daredevil, and it should not. What it can do, based on what researchers found and what coaches see in class, is give children a gentle, repeatable way to practice making a decision with incomplete information, then learning from what happens.

Back to our nine-year-old. Imagine she plays the bold move and it does not work. If she laughs, says "Okay, next time I'll prepare it better," and sets up the pieces again, that reaction is worth more than the game.

If you would like to see how this feels in a real lesson, we would be glad to have your child try one. ChessMates offers a free trial class with no pressure at all. You can book your child's free trial class here, and watch how they handle their first big decision at the board.

*Source: Monash University and Deakin University field experiment on chess and risk aversion in primary school children, as reported by Monash University News.*