Chess In Schools Grassroot Initiative continues in Berbice

The Chess In Schools (CIS) Grassroot Initiative Workshop aims to introduce chess into schools nationwide, both as an extracurricular activity for children and as part of the “Chess for Education” programme.

More than 120 children from the Bygeval Secondary School, Mahaicony Secondary School, Bush Lot Secondary School and Fort Wellington Secondary School have learnt the basics of chess when they participated in the CIS- Grassroot Initiative Workshop over the past four days.
Making a special appearance at one of the abovementioned schools (Fort Wellington), Director of Sport, Christopher Jones said, “Once your body is active you look the part. When you are actively involved, when you have a healthy body, you appeal to people differently.
“But chess works up here (your brain), you are actively thinking, it promotes critical thinking and that helps you with your life in terms of moving forward and that is why we are spreading this programme throughout the Mahaica-Berbice region.”
The children were all taught how to play chess and the basics – History of Chess, The Chess Board, The Chess Pieces: Movement & Value, Castling and Basic Opening Guidelines.
References of “Chess for Education” were also demonstrated to the students. Students were given tasks to complete such as Chess & Maths: Chess Notation & Algebraic Equations, Chess & Physics, Chess Psychology and Emotional Intelligence.
Eight teachers from the abovementioned schools were trained on how to play chess and manage school chess clubs. At the conclusion of the programme, a one-day beginners’ tournament will be held today, Saturday, October 12 at Fort Wellington Secondary.
So far, the department has visited and implemented the initiative in schools in Regions Three, Six, 10 and now Five. It is expected that the two top teams will go on to compete against Berbice High School in New Amsterdam.
The Mahaica-Berbice (West Berbice) CIS Grassroot Initiative Workshop is a nationwide initiative mainly pushed by Director of Sports Jones, and all workshops are being completed by FIDE National Instructor CM Wendell Meusa and local Developmental Instructor Janedward Daniels.