More than a game: How chess is helping prisoners in Canada

While chess may seem like just a board game to some, it is now being used in prison systems in Canada and across the world to help rehabilitate prisoners.

While chess may seem like just a board game to some, it is now being used in prison systems in Canada and across the world to help rehabilitate prisoners.

For the last ten years, Carl Portman has led a prison chess program in the U.K. that he says has worked wonders on the disposition of convicted felons.

“It’s actually perfect for prison,” he told Global News. “Chess is about making good choices.”

Portman said that he has received testimonials from countless prisoners over the years who attest to how the game has helped them.

One said that instead of committing a crime after being released, he is now going to the chess club. Another said that he now thinks before acting, which prevented him from getting back into the drug trade, while a third said the game helped him reconnect with his son after being released because he knew he played as well.

Portman said that chess teaches you to think before acting and to take responsibility for your actions because once you make a move you can’t take it back. You have to live with the consequences.

“(There’s) a lot of shouting and swearing and cursing,” he said.

Chess has now made its way to the Canadian prison system, and research has begun to explore how the game might change a prisoner’s brain for the better.