Barbadian coach to visit Guyana for “Chess in Schools” programme

The chess fraternity and students of three Georgetown schools will have a busy week ahead as they prepare to welcome Barbadian player Lawrence Depradine.
Depradine, who is the Barbados Chess Federation (BCF) Vice President for Junior Chess, will be collaborating with National Chess Coach, Wendell Meusa during his one-week stay on Guyanese shores to visit several secondary school chess clubs in Georgetown as part of the “Chess in Schools” programme.
Depradine is no stranger to Guyana, as his last visit to these shores came in April 2018. At the time, Depradine was accompanied by other Barbadian chess officials and players shortly after the 7th CARIFTA Junior Chess Championships concluded in Paramaribo, Suriname. The Barbadian player and coach also had the pleasure of a courtesy call with Director of Sport Christopher Jones.
This time around, he will be interacting with school-aged players from Queen’s College, Saints Stanislaus College and Marian Academy as efforts continue to fortify the “Chess in Schools” programme.
The “Chess in Schools” initiative is seen as a way to not only teach students the game of chess but to also engage those who may have knowledge of the game. It is often believed that chess goes a long way to improving academic performances and building intuition and focus in students. As such, National Chess Coach Wendell Meusa has been engaging a number of schools to introduce them to the game and to start clubs in these schools. Even students in areas such as Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) benefited from the “Chess in Schools” programmes in 2018.
Although the three schools selected this time around already have chess clubs, the focus will be to strengthen the players in those schools, offering advice and game tips.
Meusa, who is an old friend of Depradine, told Guyana Times Sport that he is eagerly anticipating the Barbadian’s arrival and the engagements this week. Speaking on their intentions, Meusa said they will also be focusing on development amongst junior players.
“Basically we want to support and push our “Chess in Schools” initiative and to brainstorm ideas on how Guyana can learn from Barbados when it comes to the development of Junior Chess,” Meusa stated.
Whilst the visits to Queen’s College and Saint Stanislaus College will be spread out during the week, Depradine’s visit to Marian Academy will be the final one on Friday afternoon from 14:30h.