Primary students take part in chess workshop

TWENTY primary schools students from 10 schools in the Brunei II (A) zone yesterday participated in a two-day chess workshop at the National Chess Centre in the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex, in a move which the various school principals hope will help develop their students' mental strength.

According to the Brunei Chess Federation vice-president for Brunei-Muara, Pg Abd Rahman PLW Yussof, the two-hour workshop which ends today was the brainchild of the principals and is the first of its kind.

"We at BCF welcome this sort of initiative because it is only through introducing chess at this kind of level can we hope to increase its standard in Brunei and gain a bigger following," said Pg Abd Rahman in his speech.

"Some might ask why should chess be played at schools? It is because studies have proven that not only does playing chess help build systematic and rational thinking; it also boosts confidence and self belief.

"Indeed, a lot of top-level chess players started playing when they were at a young age and still in primary school.

"But these two-hour workshops are not enough if one wants to really develop their chess skills, so we welcome all the students to come for some free coaching by the national coach who is available here at the centre six days a week," added the vice-president.

The national chess coach, Tair Vahidov, went on to deliver a speech on chess and explain the basic rules and tactics of the game.

Starting in 2001, BCF has launched tests in schools to gauge the standard of Bruneian students, and since 2003, the federation has been handing out chess sets to schools across the country with over 500 sets distributed so far.

Last February, the federation also donated 500 sets of chess books to the Co-Curricular Department.

The books, which comes in a set of 10 - five are manuals for teaching chess and five are for students was written by Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden and are the global standard for teaching chess, and come in a set of five syllables.

"This is very beneficial for the students as it helps them to be more creative, as well as giving them an opportunity to engage in an useful activity, because we don't want them to just sit in front of their books all day long," said the director of Co-Curricular, Arsad bin Abd Adis at the time.