Chess Club

The chessboard

Pupils above 10 years of age are taught to play chess to increase their problem solving and reasoning skills. It is a documented fact from research that;

  • Chess dramatically improves a child’s ability to think rationally.
  • Chess increases cognitive skills.
  • Chess improves children’s communication skills and aptitude in recognizing patterns, therefore:
  • Chess results in higher grades, especially in English and Math studies.
  • Chess builds a sense of team spirit while emphasizing the ability of the individual.
  • Chess teaches the value of hard work, concentration and commitment.
  • Chess instils in young players a sense of self-confidence and self-worth.
  • Chess makes a child realize that he or she is responsible for his or her own actions and must accept their consequences.
  • Chess teaches children to try their best to win, while accepting defeat with grace.
  • Chess provides an intellectual, competitive forum through which children can assert hostility, i.e. “let off steam,” in an acceptable way.
  • Chess can become a child’s most eagerly awaited school activity, dramatically improving attendance.
  • Chess allows girls to compete with boys on a non-threatening, socially acceptable plane.
  • Chess helps children make friends more easily because it provides an easy, safe forum for gathering and discussion.
  • Chess allows students and teachers to view each other in a more sympathetic way.
  • Chess, through competition, gives kids a palpable sign of their accomplishments.
  • Chess provides children with a concrete, inexpensive and compelling way to rise above the deprivation and self-doubt which are so much a part of their lives

Mayflower chess club which was established this academic year meet once a week and would soon join the Ghana Chess Association.