“If you don’t find me another chess teacher, I won’t let you go!” This is what the headmaster of the elementary school said to Mr. Christ Pylalis, teacher and chess player, currently a member of the board of directors. Greek Chess Federation. “When you announce to the class that you will teach chess, only half of the children may show interest, but then they will all be hooked.” says “K”. Fans of Greek chess, who are many, given that the number of players with cards is 65,000, have an additional reason to rejoice. Education Policy Institute (IEP) endorsed a proposal that ESO had submitted since the end of May with two educational programs adapted to the perceptual abilities of primary school children: “Chess and Imagination” (Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Primary) and “Chess , game strategy and mathematics, a game for everyone” (grades 4, 5, 6). Interested teachers will be able to select them for their class.

“Until recently, chess was mentioned in a ministry circular as an option, and some teachers, mostly chess players, could teach it either in the flex zone or in model school groups,” Mr. Pylalis explains. “Now, however, every teacher has at his disposal the richest material, from 25 to 30 pages, adapted to the needs of each age, which “unties” his hands, even if he himself is not an expert,” says he himself, who is the president of the school ESO Chess Committee. It will be taught as part of master classes, in the morning zone.

Ideal age

The age of five is considered ideal for starting chess, and this is all that it has to offer students. “The child’s self-discipline is greatly strengthened, his impulsiveness in a playful way is curbed; he learns that it is worth touching a pawn, how to move it, ”he says indicatively about how the intellectual game influences the formation of the personality of children. . Many may view it as a “lonely and competitive sport,” but Mr. Pylalis disagrees. “Chess promotes fair play because it is the only sport where, after the end of each game, two opponents sit together and analyze their moves and their strategy jointly.” The interest of the initiated children remains until the preparations for the Panhellenic competitions begin. “90% of chess players do well in school and do well in pan-Greek competitions, especially in the positive sciences, as it develops mathematical thinking,” he notes.

New audience

The decision of the IEP seems to be timely, because during the years of the economic crisis and self-isolation due to the coronavirus, chess gained an even larger audience. “Federation phones have been ringing since yesterday, asking when something like this will be prepared for high school students,” concludes Mr. Pylalis, who, along with twelve other committee members, has already begun editing educational materials for teenagers.