There are different degrees to playing chess and only one guaranteed truth about the game – it’s beneficial to start playing from as early an age as is possible.
Bryanston High School Grade 11 learner Siddharath Kaushik is an example of the benefits of learning chess from the cradle.
“I’ve been playing chess for over a decade now; I started very young when my parents taught me how to play,” Siddharath said.
Siddharath recounted how he met his rival at the school in a case of the student usurping the master.
“I have had a history with our board-one player at the school. We’ve played a few games,” said Siddharath. “I started by teaching him back when I was in Grade 9, and he was just a Grade 8 who started. He endured, and got better eventually, and then he surpassed me.”
Siddharath flexed his brilliance as the school’s board-two chess player on April 5, in a best-two-out-of-three game against this journalist – who now lives with having lost clean in chess to a high school learner.
“I was actually stunned in the second game, pretty impressed by your skills,” Siddharath said, displaying impeccable sportsmanship. “Chess helps build up my mental capabilities, helps me concentrate, and it’s been a fun hobby since I was younger.”
Bryanston High School’s chess coordinator Jessica Rich said that the jury is still out on whether there is a direct correlation between playing chess and becoming a top learner.
“It’s hard to prove causality, but many of our top students are a part of chess,” Rich said. “I don’t know if they like chess because they’re top students, or they’re top students because they like chess. They’re related, definitely.”
Rich reported back on what the chess team at the school gets up to. The club plays in annual tournaments at Dainfern College in the first term of school.
“We participated in two extra tournaments last year – one in Steyn City League, and another league at St Peter’s College, where we also participated in the St Peter’s festival,” Rich said.
“We’re about to join the six-round Steyn City tournament in May,” Rich concluded.
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