Fun & Pawns at Michelham Priory (25 Oct 2003)

On Saturday 25 October, 80 children and 50 parents enjoyed a great day out organised by Sussex Junior Chess at Michelham Priory, learning about local history, the tudors, calligraphy, the ghosts of Michelham Priory and also learning how to play the timeless game of chess. 

International Chess Master Chris Baker, along with seven other approved chess trainers, coached the 80 children through beginning moves to advanced play.  Players as young as five were learning the basic moves, and England players were also there honing up their skills.

Paul Deshmukh-Reeves, aged 7, from the Meads Primary School in East Grinstead was interviewed by the BBC south-east television crew who attended on the day and said that “chess is like a parcel – it makes you think while you open it all up!”.  A very philosophical observation, Paul! And that is exactly what chess is like, with the parcel being like an onion - there are always more layers to discover whatever level you are, and it certainly makes you think!

The day coincided with the end of National Chess Week, which culminated in Sussex supremo David Howell flying around the UK in a helicopter playing chess at various schools in England to raise money for Barnardo’s.

Jonathan Tuck, Sussex Junior Chess coaching manager, who used to coach David Howell when he was starting off in his chess success, said that “the Michelham event was designed to be fun for the children and their parents and to encourage them to learn and play chess as well.  The benefits of playing chess are massive, I can think of no other activity which is as wide-ranging and available to all which is consistently fun, competitive, social, team-orientated and satisfying.  The children especially seem to naturally gravitate to all that chess offers and their enthusiasm is boundless.”

The beauty about competitive chess is that the system is self-correcting and ensures that over the course of a tournament children will play other children of the same ability, with the idea being that at any time a child has a 50% chance of winning.  That way children are automatically encouraged to keep playing, and they can savour their successes as they are not easily achieved, and they can also learn to deal with defeat as it happens often enough that they have to be able to take it in their stride, and learn from their mistakes.  Over time, the system produces better and better players as they each adjust to the improvements in others.