Story appeared in: Torch Bankstown | September 28th, 2017

HOPING to see a love and passion for mathematics flowering in the minds of young people, a former Bankstown resident has devised an amazing new game and written a book to support it, ‘Mathematical Chess’.

Dr George Ho graduated from the University of Pedagogy in Vietnam in 1962, majoring in mathematics. He went on to gain a Bachelor of Mathematics and a Doctorate in Science.
He has spent seven years teaching mathematics to high school students and 16 years in the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Sciences in Vietnam.
Migrating to Australia in 1980, Dr Ho spent the next 26 years working in computer science before retiring in 2006.

“Mathematical Chess is a two-player game that’s educational and entertaining,” Dr Ho said.  “It’s played on 10 digit pieces and six operator pieces (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, power and root).
“The chess board is a grid made up of nine vertical and nine horizontal lines. It is flexible and suitable for students from primary and high schools to universities.”
Dr Ho believes the excessive use of electronic calculators and games has caused a negative impact on the alertness and numerical abilities of students at all levels.
“According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald (‘Grade worse than in the 1960s’), in numeracy, teenagers are a quarter of a grade behind their counterparts in 1964,” he said.

“When I came to Australia, I also noticed students were well behind their Asian counterparts in all mathematics fields.
“The young love challenges and competitions, and a learning environment organised  around games has a positive effect on their attitudes to learning.

“Like European chess and Chinese chess, Mathematical Chess teaches strategy planning, problem solving, decision-making, concentration, perseverance and analysis while boosting numeric ability and speedy calculation.”

For more info and to order a copy, email Dr Ho at gho6724@gmail.com  or find
Mathematical Chess on Amazon.com