Yamie Chess: The Adventures of Tigermore and the Mind Angels

Educational Assessments

"Research has shown that, by itself, learning to play chess is tied to better logical reasoning and stronger performance in math. Yamie Chess adds to this by integrating both mathematical content and math puzzles into the text."—Professor Michael Ching, PhD, Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Next to the chessic aspects, the mathematical topics are at the center of the book: Here the readers are exposed to sets and Venn diagrams, numbers and raising them to powers, fractions and triangles including the theorem of Pythagoras."—Professor Christian Hesse, PhD, Mathematics, Harvard University

"Mathematics problems are interspersed through the text and will both expose children to important mathematical results (e.g., Venn diagrams, finding the area of a triangle, and unit cancellation) and allow them opportunity to grow in mathematical reasoning. Problems are labeled by grade level, allowing parents and teachers to target problems for students."—Professor Ashley Ahlin, PhD, Mathematics, University of Chicago

Math Contents Summary

First published in softcover for Yamie Chess' nationally award-winning math learning aid that won School Library Journal's Best Education Pick of 2014, and now available for the first time in eBook format, Yamie Chess: The Adventures of Tigermore and the Mind Angels is a supplemental math education aid written by experienced teachers that requires no prior experience of chess.

Designed as a children's graphic novel for math education, the work is aligned with the NCTM Curriculum Focal Points in algebra, geometry, numbers and operations, measurement and data analysis.

Teaching children from 5 to 12 years old important math and science classroom skills for STEM education, the comic can be read as a standalone adventure story for supplemental math study, at home and at school, or used by beginners to learn chess from scratch.

The book's instructions encourage kids to use the material with any classic chess set they have available, to aid their understanding of chess, and reenact the integrated European chess game that unfolds through the story. It's a historic game in fact, that took place between Grandmasters Johannes Zukertort and GM Adolf Anderssen in Berlin, Germany in 1865.

With artwork from ex-Disney illustrators, the story follows 8-year-old Kimi as he travels to the Mind Kingdom, a secret universe ruled by chess where all the cartoon characters are the classic chess pieces from the boardgame, to learn math skills for school.

Information for Parents and Teachers

The math comic features important educational benefits for children:

1. Written by veteran math teachers: Yamie Chess: The Adventures of Tigermore and the Mind Angels was developed by experienced U.S. math teachers from America's top universities including: Caltech, Columbia, Stanford, Vanderbilt and MIT - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;

2. Math practice for 5 - 12 year olds: Useful for practicing math with the kids at home on tablets and smartphones, the softcover version is already being used in after-school classes and indoor recess. Yamie Chess offers supportive and carefully designed math learning material and puzzles to help budding learners to boost their math skills for school.

"The problems are clearly marked by grade level and were written to tie into the NCTM standards. Solutions are provided in the back with ample explanation and diagrams to show how some of the more complex problems are solved. These questions give a depth to the story and provide differentiation for any age student in grades K-8."—Mrs Jena Philips, MEd, 8th Grade Science Teacher, Northern Arizona University

"As a middle school math teacher I see the value of Yamie Chess in an educational setting. This is a wonderful enrichment activity that can be used to spark more students’ interest in learning the game of chess while increasing mathematical thinking."—Elizabeth Gates, BA, Illinois 7th Grade Math Teacher, Miami University

3. Learn classic chess from scratch: No prior experience is needed to play Yamie Chess, the book teaches children the basics of the game including how the pieces move, basic chess strategy and then with the comic story enables children to work through a historical European chess game with the cartoon characters, giving kids' an immediate understanding and context to their newly learned knowledge.

4. Grade key for learners: With a friendly cartoon background story that can be universally enjoyed by elementary and middle school children, the math puzzles and problems woven through the text and illustrations are keyed at each step with their corresponding U.S. grade school level to help parents and teachers isolate material to challenge and explore work in line with homestudy and school courses. 

For example, the note "Grade 3" next to a math concept in the text would indicate that the level of the problem is great for introducing that particular math concept to 3rd graders, that 4th to 8th graders should be able to understand and complete that problem as revision work, and that 1st and 2nd graders could either attempt to approach the problem or skip it and return in the future when they feel more ready. There is a wide variety of math problems aimed at each age group.

5. Hints and explained answers: To make the eBook more interactive, a button link to the answer is provided next to each math problem in the text, with hints to trigger lateral thinking and full explanations for the more challenging problems included in the eBook's linked appendix.

6. 250+ imaginative cartoons: To help comprehension and understanding of the math concepts, the work features a great many imaginative and beautifully shaded illustrations designed by top ex-Disney animators.