Should Chess become a school subject?

@ed01106 said in #20:

While there is a small bit of overlap between math and chess, both involve logical thinking and problem solving, that is where the similarities end.

Chess is a game with no application beyond playing chess.

Math is an essential skill necessary for finance, science, construction, engineering, etc.
But chess teaches you soft skills too, something that schools dont teach.
Chess can teach you to make sacrifices, even when you dont want to.
It even teaches you how to gain confidence, which is something that schools can't teach.

Apparently, if people point out that schools should incorporate those lessons, chess could be incorporated too.

@MIHIR_KATTI said in #21:

But chess teaches you soft skills too, something that schools dont teach.
Chess can teach you to make sacrifices, even when you dont want to.
It even teaches you how to gain confidence, which is something that schools can't teach.

There are literally hundreds of other ways to teach anything you can learn from chess. I am not anti-chess, but there is a limited amount of time for instruction; chess doesn't belong as a subject. Great afterschool club, but not as a subject other than maybe brief introduction to generate interest.

I don't believe chess should be mandatory in schools. However, more schools could have chess clubs, and offering it as an elective might be good. I love chess. It is my favorite game, but I would not force it on anyone. Another point is that chess did not allow me a way out--I had hoped to become good enough to teach and make a moderate amount of money. The way things are now, I would be lucky to find a job mopping floors (nothing is wrong with honest work, but I wouldn't be very happy).