By Marlon Munroe
The second national schools’ chess championships opened on Saturday with some 20 schools from six regions competing for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport trophy at the Carifesta Sports Complex.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, declared the championships open when he made the first move against Belinda Dillon, one of three primary school competitors from the West Coast of Berbice.
Earlier, during his feature address, he reiterated his satisfaction with the over 100-student contingent, an amount which he noted was much larger than the inaugural year’s where 12 schools participated.
Dr. Anthony declared that he was heartened by the efforts of the administrators of schools, in aiding the ministry’s attempts to resuscitate the sport.
He opined that for the sport to regain some amount of popularity locally (as it had when he played at his alma mater, Queen’s College) then it has to be restarted in the schools.
He, further declared, that since the lessons learnt on the chess board were applicable to life; children will be doubly rewarded since it will help them to think strategically in all facets of their school and by extension their adult lives.
He referred to a study conducted a few years ago by an American University which concluded that the potential for educational development was limitless for persons who play chess.
He encouraged students to strive to achieve their full potential so that one day Guyana could have its own grandmaster and implored them to love the game as this could lead to a lifelong passion.
Dr. Anthony also lauded the Guyana Chess Federation, (GCF) for its effort in having the game played competitively at the national level in both the junior and senior categories.
He charged the Errol Tiwari-led administration to continue to stir up enthusiasm stating that the ministry…. “Will continue to do its part in providing the requisite tools for the programme to be implemented smoothly.”
He reminded the audience that chess in Guyana can have a bright future and pointed to the successful introduction of the sport at the Inter-Guiana Games earlier this year. The Inter-Guiana Games first started in 1960 and this year’s event afforded some of the country’s best players the chance to represent their country.
Dr. Anthony said he believed the initiative was testimony to the collaborative work between the GCF and the ministry and the response from the players who love the sport.
The minister also said in an invited comment that his ministry will be stepping up work in the development programme in the schools. He said that the ministry, in tandem with the GCF, will be conducting training programmes for teachers from the various administrative regions in the rudiments of the game since the two bodies realise that many of the teachers are not familiar with the rules on how the game is played.
He said moves for Guyana to regain its accreditation with the world governing body Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) was in the pipeline.
Guyana lost its ranking with the governing body after years of inactivity at both the national and international levels.
Meanwhile, the students of Regions 5, 6, 7 and 10 are being housed at the National Gymnasium while students from Regions 3 and 4 travel home every day for the two-day event which finished yesterday.
Minister Anthony said that it has cost his ministry close to $500,000 to house, feed and purchase prizes for the respective winners.
