The 4th London Chess Conference took place from 10 to 12 December 2016. Below is the programme of the event as it happened.

The quality of all sessions was very high. Some speakers and workshop leaders prepared slides associated with their presentations; you can review and download them by clicking on the presentation title or the name of the workshop leader.

Day 1: Saturday 10 December

9.30 – 10.30 REGISTRATION AND REFRESHMENTS

10.30 – 12.45 PLENARY: Conference opening and keynote talks

• Malcolm Pein Welcome to the Conference
• John Foley Conference overview
• Jesper Hall Chess in schools – Europe
• Barry Hymer Chess mindset
• Rita Atkins Problem solving in the classroom
• Vasilis Parginos Chess as part of curriculum – Singapore
• Maurice Ashley Teaching chess to underprivileged children
• Mike Basman A survival guide to teaching chess

12.30 – 14.00 LUNCH

14.00 – 15.30 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• Chess Didactics I: Classroom skills (workshop)
  • Sean Marsh 28 years on 64 squares
  • Sarah Kett Classroom teaching skills
• Chess for children with special needs (workshop)
  • Luis Blasco ADHD
  • Karel van Delft Dyslexia
  • Anna Harazinska Hospitals
• Personal tutoring (presentations)
  • Nevil Chan Tutoring non-competitive players
  • Jinwoo Song Selecting the right game for a child
  • Edward Pogossian Personal interactive tutoring using Artificial Intelligence (supplementary material: click here)
• Organisational models for expanding chess in schools (workshop)
  • Neil Dietsch Opportunities and challenges of multi-site CIS initiatives – Alabama
  • Graham Jurgensen Franchise development – Kasparov Chess Foundation

15.30 – 16.00 BREAK

16.00 – 17.00 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• Chess Didactics II: Scholastic chess in the classroom (workshop)
  • Rita Atkins
  • Jerome Maufras
• Achieving variety in chess lessons (workshop)
  • Philippe Vukojevic
  • Anastasia Sorokina
• Telling stories to enrich chess instruction (workshop)
  • Leo Hovestad
  • Wendi Fischer
• The gamification of chess education (playthroughs)
  • Boris Alterman Chessmatec
  • Marcel Prujit Chessity

17.00 – 18.00 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• World Café (table debates with leading experts)
  • Barry Hymer Should we use a reward scheme for chess?
  • Stephen Moss Is there a limit to self-improvement in chess?
  • Chris Fegan What is the future of chess in schools?
  • Dan Staples How should we evaluate teaching chess in school?
  • Janos Pallagi What is the place of technology in teaching chess?
  • Stefan Loffler What can chess learn from other strategy games?
  • Sophia Rohde How can school chess become more appealing to girls?
  • Anastasia Sorokina Silence, touch move, timers: how strict should chess classes be?
• Teaching chess through media
  • Monika Gergelova The Checkmate TV series
  • Jesper Hall Developing instructive chess videos
  • Andrew Wallace Audio-visual materials in chess lessons

Day 2: Sunday 11 December

9.00 – 9.30 REFRESHMENTS

9.30 – 11.00 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• Chess Didactics III: Mini-games (workshop)
  • Jorge Nuno Silva Abstract mini-games
  • Walter Radler Chess mini-games
  • Frantisek Jablonicky Mathematical didactical games
• Does chess instruction promise a lasting effect? (talks)
  • John Jerrim A study on schools in England by the Institute of Education
  • Gianluca Argentin The Italian SAM study (2011-2016) (supplementary material in Italian: click here)
  • Giovanni Sala Response
• Launching large scale chess education projects (presentations)
  • Anna Harazinska Chess in schools – Poland
  • Geir Nesheim Chess in schools – Norway
  • Graham Jurgensen Chess in schools – KCF Africa
  • additional presentation on the subject sent to organisers: IG Sukhin Chess in primary schools in Russia
• IT resources for school chess (playthroughs)
  • Alexander Kostyev ChessKing (Russia) (supplementary material: click here)
  • Smbat Lputian Virtual chess training of pupils (Armenia)
  • Kevin O’Connell Chess in schools wiki (ECU)
• Social and legal responsibilities (discussion)
  • Dan Staples Safeguarding children
  • Jon Lloyd Working with older people

11.00 – 11.15 BREAK

11.15 – 12.30 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• Chess Didactics IV: Differentiation (workshop)
  • Jerry Nash Promoting metacognition through chess
  • Mikkel Norgaard The experience from aspiring chess teachers
  • Erzsabet Sarlos, Mark Szavin Differentiation in teaching chess and logic
• How to improve motivation in chess (workshop)
  • Barry Hymer How to encourage chess players (Why feedback trumps praise and reward)
• Teaching programmes (presentations)
  • Philippe Vukojevic Teaching chess with the STEPS Method
  • Josep Serra, Marta Amigo, Laura Garcia-Taberner and Carme Saurina The Catalan model (supplementary material: click here)
  • Tal Granite The Chess World programme
• From school chess to junior chess (presentations)
  • Stefan Loffler The Miesbach school chess project
  • Walter Radler Interfaces between school and club chess in Germany
  • Roberto Schenker The Swiss junior chess study

12.30 – 13.45 LUNCH

13.45 – 14.00 PLENARY: The ECU Prize Award

• Shared 1st-2nd: Alison Bexfield (“Partner chess”: download here) and Tim&Sarah Kett (“Knight’s tour snooker”: download here)
• 3rd: Jerry Nash (“A safe journey home”: download here)
• Special commendation: Jerome Maufras (“My kingdom for a horse”: download here)
• Special mention for an excellent entry but outside the scope of the competition rules: Mahwish Khan (“A scientific enquiry using chess”: download here)

14.00 – 15.45 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• Online learning systems (panel)
  • Janos Pallagi Learning Chess
  • Boris Alterman ChessMatec
  • David Kramaley Chessable
  • Marcel Prujit Chessity
• Chess organisational development (workshop)
  • Smbat Lputian Chess in schools – Armenia
  • Simon Wilbrandt The process of professionalising chess education organisations
  • Martin Huba ECU as your partner in educational, social and development projects
  • Stanislav Vlcek GPX for youth in Slovakia – a practical example of a good idea
• Teaching chess with other strategy games (tutorial)
  • Alison Bexfield Chess and go
  • Leo Hovestadt Chess and draughts
• Chess as a part of the curriculum (presentations)
  • Chris Fegan Chess in Schools and Communities – United Kingdom
  • Vasileios Parginos The Overseas Family School project – Singapore

15.45 – 16.00 BREAK

16.00 – 17.30 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• Chess teacher training (panel with Jerome Maufras, Pep Suarez, Rita Atkins, Luis Blasco, Jerry Nash, Laura Garcia-Taberner and Smbat Lputian)
• How to run a private chess teaching business (workshop)
  • Anastasia Sorokina
  • Sarah Kett
• Cognitive insights into chess improvement (workshop)
  • David Kramaley Chessable theory
  • Marcel Prujit Chessity theory
  • Boris Zlotnik The chess trainer’s patience
  • Hedinn Steingrimsson Response
• Sources of funding for chess in schools (panel)

20.30 – 22.00 SPECIAL SHOWING OF THE DOCUMENTARY MAGNUS

Day 3: Monday 12 December

9.00 – 9.30 REFRESHMENTS

9.30 – 10.45 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• Primary school chess curriculum development (panel with Jerry Nash, Philippe Vukojevic and Tal Granite)
• Research into the effectiveness of chess (panel with Gianluca Argentin, Giovanni Sala, Edward Pogossian, David Kramaley, Noel-Ann Bradshaw and Hedinn Steingrimsson)
• Online systems in depth (workshop)
  • Janos Pallagi LearningChess.net

10.45 – 11.00 BREAK

11.00 – 13.00 PARALLEL SESSIONS

• The professionalisation of chess teaching (panel with Jerry Nash, Philippe Vukojevic, Tal Granite and Laura Garcia-Taberner)
• Research into the effectiveness of chess (continued) (panel with Gianluca Argentin, Giovanni Sala, Edward Pogossian, David Kramaley, Noel-Ann Bradshaw and Hedinn Steingrimsson)
• European Chess Union Education Commission

13.00 – 14.00 LUNCH

14.00 – 16.00 PLENARY Amanda Ross Planning for a national Mind Sports Centre in London