In the weekly Chess Club, there’s a chance to learn how and why a pawn is different to a bishop, rook, queen or king. “If you move there, what’s going to be the consequence?” is just one of the questions a beginner is asked over their Monday lunchtime chess game in McAuley Library. “If you do that, then she can take you” advises one student to another.
For several years, anywhere from three to 10 students have been meeting each week to play chess. In Terms 2 and 3, Frank Meerbach from Chess Kids comes in to teach the students how to play. While at many of the primary schools he visits chess is something extra the parents pay for and numbers are more predictable, at MLMC he said it’s a challenge to balance the differing skill levels.
“If you try to pick up chess it’s teaching you to think logically, and that’s going to help in all walks of life,” Frank said. “It’s particularly useful in areas like mathematics. But it doesn’t correlate that if you’re a mathematician you’ll necessarily be one of the great chess players.”
Year 10 student Chris Fox has been in the chess club since Year 7 and is undefeated at the school and in the now annual competition against Luther College where the schools are tied at 1-all. “I like the tactics and the strategy, and the maths. And it’s helped with my maths,” Chris said. Year 7 student Richard Laan is new to Chess Club but said it was fun to play against players with different skills and play someone other than his family, although his sister Karen, in Year 10, is also a regular.
