Dragon Tag is a special collaboration between Start Right Chess, Inc. and Chess Therapy, LLC. We believe it represents an emerging breakthrough in chess pedagogy—and in afterschool chess altogether…
COACH REY: I estimate that fewer than half of kids in afterschool chess learn how to play basic, legal chess. Why? Because coaches start by making them memorize how pieces move, which is boring, especially after a long school day. Kids get turned off before they get to the point of being able to play. It happens often!
My partner (“Coach Mac”) has developed a brilliant solution—a strategy game called “Dragon Tag”—that teaches chess. The point is, while kids can’t play chess right away, they can play Dragon Tag right away, and Dragon Tag teaches chess! (Secret: It really IS chess, but rearranged for learning.)
Guess what? We are seeing that, on average, kids who learn with this approach, which starts with critical thinking, learn faster and play better than kids who start with memorization.