Dr. Sid Credle, center, the dean of Hampton University's business school, uses chess as a way to teach critical thinking. Nneka Uzoh, about strategy. Photo by John H. Sheally II/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT.

Years ago while the Director of Academic Programs at Florida A&M University (FAMU), Dr. Sid Credle hatched the idea to incorporate chess in the curriculum as part of the "Successful Business Negotiations" graduate course.  The chess class was team-taught with Dr. Daaim Shabazz and served as a complement to the traditional textbook material taught by Dr. Kenneth Gray.

The idea of the chess segment was to encourage strategic thinking in the business negotiation process. Credle taught basic movements, but  also included chess notation and basic opening theory. The semester concluded with a class tournament and the segment represented 1/3 of the course grade. The segment was a hit and when Credle left FAMU in 2000 to serve as Dean of his alma mater Hampton University, he took the model with him.

Recently Hampton University ran a story about Credle's innovative methods which also includes the Japanese sword martial art of Kendo. The article states that one in ten Hampton students know the piece movements prior to the class. As part of the class, students are required to play worldwide on the Internet. Tisa Rabun, a 2004 program graduate, credited her chess lessons for good reviews she gets for problem-solving in her corporate marketing job in Hartford, Conn.  "The first thing is, it gets you out of your comfort zone," Rabun said. "Everyone likes games…  Competition drives a lot of people."

The article mentions that an Ontario-based consultant uses chess to train corporate employees. Credle plans on experimenting with other games such as Chinese Checkers, Pinochle and Monopoly. This is perhaps a novel way of "lateral thinking" in the business world.

Read Matthew Bowers', "HU dean finds chess, business make a smart match" The Virginian Pilot, 27 February 2007.

Posted by The Chess Drum:  4 March 2007