As of 2013, school students in Russia may be able to learn to play chess and golf. Both sports are offered as a non-mandatory subject, to stimulate intellectual development of Russian pupils.

      In 50 Moscow schools teachers already attend intellectual games classes, and in 2013 pupils will finally join the ranks. In addition to chess and checkers, pupils may also learn to play bridge - the only card game classed as a sport in its own right.   

      Meanwhile, the Russian Golf Association announced at the end of October 2012 that the Ministry of Education has approved the inclusion of golf in the school curriculum. Golf is currently still practised as an exclusive kind of sport, mainly because of the lack of facilities and the high costs of developing golf courts and ranges. And yet the cities of Dmitrov and Krasnogorsk in Moscow Region and Yekaterinburg and Krasnoyarsk will pioneer the inclusion of golf in school curriculum as either optional, or mandatory subject. The RGA hopes this will foster the popularity of golf and help to raise the new stars of Russian golf.