| | ||||||
| Home - About us - Shop - Programs - Join - Team - Tournaments - Contact us - | ||||||
 Newsletter
|
 |
|
|
Liguanea Chess Club started its operation on November 4, 1997 by National Master, Geoffrey Byfield and in the physics lab at the UWI. Geoffrey Byfield had a dream of making chess a popular national pass time, especially since the game had so much benefits. Since then membership has grown from 6 members to 86 and is still growing. The Club's team now has three full time staff member, Deborah Richards, Women's National Master and Senior Teacher, Cordell Eccleston Administrative Assistant and one (1) part-time employees Andrew Mellace - Coach and Rohan Cruise, sports coordinator. Byfield started playing chess 24 years ago while studying at Knox Community College and has represented Jamaica at the Chess Olympics in Greece in 1984, the World Youth tournament in 1982 and played in the Professional World Open Chess Tournament in Philadelphia in 1985. Byfield explained that although chess was considered a low-profile sport it was quite lucrative internationally as players get millions of dollars in prize money. Today chess is recognized as an Olympic Sport. In addition World Champions win in the order of 2 million pounds to play World Championships. Recent studies in the United States have shown that children exposed to chess on a regular basis actually improve their thinking skills. The activity helps to increase grade levels, raise self-esteem and improved concentration, which eventually leads to better quality work. Some parents are turning to chess as an innovative learning tool which they think will increase the thinking and problem-solving skills of their children. Parents are concerned about the development of logical and mathematical ability in their kids. The Liguanea Chess Club was started on the conviction that the sport can help Jamaican students do better at their schoolwork. The aim is to increase students' academic success, improve organizational thinking skills and build their self-confidence. Chess has long moved away from being a game and sport. Research has proven it to be a viable learning tool. 2 such researches have been done in Jamaica. One was conducted at Charlie Smith Comprehensive, with a group of boys that were troublesome. After numerous attempts to find a solution failed, CHESS was implemented. Within months the students made a drastic change in both their attitude and academic performance. More detailed information on this research can be found in a publication from the Ministry of Education (The Guidance Counseling Unit) called CELEBRATIONS, Teachers and students making a difference. It's a presentation of good practices in Jamaican schools. A similar result was had in St. Hugh's High, where a teacher Mrs. K. Wilson used 15 minutes of her regular Mathematics class time to teach chess. An American Chess school director, Robert Ferguson, in the Sept 95 issue of Chess Life, revealed findings from his research. The research showed that school children exposed to chess on a regular basis actually improved their thinking skills, increase their grades, heightened their self esteem and they learned to pay better attention and turned out better quality work. Ferguson said, "This is because chess demands more creative, higher order thinking skills such as synthesis and analysis than most mandated courses. It also seems to integrate very easily into many subject areas such as Maths, History, Logic, Geography, Psychology, Languages, the Arts and Sports. These studies have shown that
chess also builds self -confidence in emotionally and socially
disadvantaged students. Chess teaches students to deal with real life
problems and provide an important outlet for social interaction. Students
learn the dangers of impulsive behaviour and the value of concentration.
They learn that hard work reaps positive results and lazy thinking ends in
disaster. Byfield has already designed a curriculum for each level to also
include the gifted and the emotionally and physically disabled.
|