Checkmate

Today, I want to focus on the psychological aspect and tell you about the WKU Health Academy Chess Club. The Chess Club started mid September with eight Health Academy youth interested in learning how to play chess. Unfortunately, we only have one small travel size chessboard right now so only a few adolescents can play at a time. We started the Chess Club as an activity aimed at stimulating the adolescents’ minds and developing problem-solving skills to use in their everyday lives when they encounter challenges.

Just play
The Chess Club meets formally twice a week. We start with a brief lesson regarding the rules of the game and then the youth pair-up and compete against each other. The best way to learn how to play and get better is simply to play. There are two exceptional students in Chess Club right now, twin brothers named Bheki and Bhekisisa (Chess intelligence must run in the family!). In only one month they have excelled and each time they play they learn more about chess strategy. 

Huge interest
Even WKU staff members are getting into the fold as Theo Mitchell recently faced the brothers in a computerized version of the game. For an hour all eyes were on the computer screen as they captivated the audience and battled to a standstill. Chess Club has become a popular activity when the youth aren’t playing soccer. Many of the adolescents at the Health Academy want to learn and play since they have never played before. We hope we will acquire a couple larger chessboards in the future so the Chess Club can accommodate all the eager youth. 

As the Chess Club advisor, I am hoping to make this club successful. My goal is to have a Chess Team represent WKUHA in competition against local schools’ Chess Clubs.