Children spend summer working on chess skills

It provokes images of medieval Europe, where brave knights, bishops and pawns joined forces with their stately king and powerful queen to rid the realm of its enemies. Today of course, it’s only a game… but one that requires a well focussed mind.

Jacqueline Woods
You rarely see adults much less children playing chess in Belize, but these boys and girls between the ages of three and fifteen may just be making history under the blue tarp on Pelican Street Extension. All summer the students have been playing under the watchful eyes of Glenn Reneau, the tournament director for the Belize Association of Chess Players.

Glenn Reneau, Instructor, Summer Chess Classes
“The primary objective is to get students who are on their summer vacation involved in areas beside staying at home or doing other activities. Something new, whereby they can involve themselves in learning something that will help them in their school work.”

Fifteen-year-old Vince Castillo went into the summer chess classes after learning the basic skills of the game from some of his high school friends.

Vince Castillo, Amateur Chess Player
“How to move the pawn, the knight, the rook, the bishop, the queen and the king.”

Both instructor and student say it is not difficult to learn how to play the ancient game, which teaches more than just how to win.

Glenn Reneau
“It will help them in their problem solving, it will help them to think critically. It will help them to be more focused, to be more patient, they will be more disciplined.”

Vince Castillo
“For me, it really helps me in school work and part of it is like maths too, because you have to know certain moves on the board and you have visualise the move and think very carefully when you’re playing chess.”

A total of twenty-one students from eight primary schools enrolled in the classes. Reneau says he plans to make the sessions an annual activity.

The boys and girls received certificates in a short ceremony on Thursday.