This Educator’s Guide will be useful to primary school teachers, psychologists, and chess

club coaches who aim at overall development of children and further translation of the abilities

that are developed during chess training to other school subjects and activities. The theoretical part of the Guide outlines the essence of the Reflection and Activity Approach to designing chess training targeting development of the ability to perform mentally. The authors delineate the chess training program (from the basics of Chess to solving mate-in-one problems in one’s head). The Guide describes the process of developing the ability to make a mental move. Specific exercises (chess problems) and an exemplary lesson plan are provided. The Guide rests on the principles and techniques of the Reflection and Activity Approach to developmental psychology and the evidence obtained in terms of the Chess for Overall Development Project that has been evolving in Satka since 2004.

The Guide was published with the organizational and financial support of the Satka German-Russian Chess Foundation