My Junior chess clubs coaching experience

Accredited Chess Coach – English Chess Federation (ECF)

I’ve been working in the community for more than 45 years and I’m passionate about teaching children how to play chess. In March 2006 I started the Greenwich Chess Group after one year researching the benefits of chess. I also identified that there was not much chess tuition in Royal Greenwich schools and not one junior chess club where children could learn to play.

I decided to start teaching children and young people how to play chess and to promote the game as both an educational aid and a socially inclusive activity. I’ve now been teaching chess for 16 years and I’ve taught over 1600 children chess in Croydon and in the London boroughs of Royal Greenwich, Brent; Lewisham, City of Westminster, Lambeth, Wandsworth and Southwark.

I have previously taught chess at Virgo Videlis, Kidbrooke Park, Northcote Lodge, Adamsrill, Brentfield, Holy Trinity C of E (Tulse Hill), Foxfield, Gordonbrock, Streatham Wells, South Rise, Convent of Jesus and Mary RC (Willesden Green), John Keble, St Jude’s (Herne Hill), Charlton Manor, Christchurch (Brondesbury), Plumcroft, Woodhill, Millennium; Gladstone Park, Our Lady of Dolours RC, Edmund Waller, Greenslade and Cherry Orchard primary schools.

I’ve also had the pleasure of sharing my chess knowledge with pupils at Plumstead Manor Girls, London Nautical, Walworth Academy, Elm Court and Deptford Green secondary schools and it’s because I enjoy doing exactly what I love to do, why I still continue teaching children chess to this day.

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I presently teach chess at St Dunstan’s College in Catford, Rutherford House primary in Balham, Gordonbrock primary in Ladywell and Alexander McCleod primary in Abbeywood.

I understand the commitment needed to develop talented players but recently I’ve closed the Herne Hill and Crofton Park clubs and I now only run the clubs in Eltham SE9, on Wednesday evenings and the one in Plumstead SE18, on Friday afternoons.

Children as young as six years old can attend and I deliver all teaching sessions and supervise all games and puzzles. I believe that there is still lots of scope to encourage and teach many more girls and boys to participate into local junior chess tournaments. One of my objectives is to identify and develop talented players into teams to represent their respective boroughs at junior chess tournaments.

I took part in and helped to organise the Lewisham ChessFest event in April 2010 which was held at various sites around the borough of Lewisham; two Libraries, a community centre, a local Archive Centre, a primary school and in the Town Centre. Over 250 adults and children attended and played chess together throughout the month.

 

I also enjoy promoting the introduction of junior chess into as many London schools as I can and encourage children to enter the Kent Junior Chess Association’s (KJCA) 8 Grand Prix tournaments which starts in the new junior chess club season every September.

Being active and self motivated my general aim is to create more awareness of junior chess and to popularise teaching the game to younger girls and boys and teenage girls as well.  The profile of chess needs to be improved so that more parents understand the educational and social benefits that chess has to offer their children. I have a particular interest in the relationship between children playing chess together and the impact that this has on their quality of life at home, at school, and how this affects the way children behave and relate to their peers in the community.

Taught well, most children can excel at almost everything they do regularly, so I intend to promote chess in a way that improves the intellectual development of children to change their attitudes to thinking and learning. These important attributes should develop the necessary Soft skills they need to help them get along better with other people and enhance their concentration, problem-solving and analytical skills as well. I really believe that most children like to play games and would like to have a go at chess. However, the challenge is finding different ways to boost their confidence so that more of them are motivated to just simply come along, join in and have a go.

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Please contact me here:
Telephone : 07538 035896
Email : rwchessacademy@hotmail.co.uk