The good folk of Carenage and its surroundings will have the opportunity to learn to play the game of chess for free when the T&T Chess Foundation extends its Let's Play Chess programme to those eastern districts starting on Saturday afternoon March 15. This initiative, taken in partnership with the Diego Martin Regional Corporation, is an expansion of the ongoing programme launched by the T&TCF at the National Library in Port-of-Spain in 2002.
The programme, which comes to an end on April 12, will comprise five Saturday sessions to be held at the Carenage Community Centre beginning at 1.30pm. The programme will be conducted by experienced trainers of the Foundation and it is expected that participants will gain sufficient knowledge and appreciation of the celebrated mind game to make it a regular sporting activity at the community centre.
'We are hoping that young people, particularly, will take advantage of this opportunity to engage in a sport from which they can only benefit," says Edison Raphael, president of the T&TCF. "We believe the more children we can expose to the disciplining influence of chess, the better their chances of becoming wiser and more productive citizens and, as a result, a credit to our country," he added.
This has been the motivating factor of the foundation from its inception. "Our purpose is to take chess to the people not only because it is an enjoyable world-class sport but also because it is a tried and tested academic tool, providing an additional training ground for the mind," Raphael explains.
According to the T&TCF president, Nalis (POS) will remain the programme's base where every Sunday, from 10am to noon, novices and other juniors can come and play and receive further training all for free. He explains: "While the programme initiates participants into the intricacies of the game and affords them a progressive route into the world of tournament play, its essential purpose is not to create chess stars but rather to bring to the widest section of the population, particularly youngsters, the intrinsic benefits which the world's greatest mind game has to offer."
Giving an idea of the Foundation's achievements, the president reveals that a total of 438 persons, including a number of parents, have already participated in the programme at the library in Port-of-Spain and at Arima, Chaguanas and Tobago.
For its part, the DMRC welcomes the chess programme as one of a range of sporting and cultural activities which the new corporation is moving to employ as one way of addressing the crime problem in the area. Chairman of the Corporation Darryl Smith is particularly keen on getting students of the area's schools involved in the programme which includes other popular sports such as cricket, with the support of Queen's Park, football and basketball.
Enroy Slater, Councillor for Carenage, is already busy preparing the Community Centre for the official launch of the chess programme. "We are starting at Carenage and we expect the school children and teachers, fathers and mothers of the area, will come out to learn the game and eventually help in forming an active chess club," Smith said. From there, the Corporation hopes to take the programme to Maraval and other areas.
The DMRC Chairman needed no persuasion to incorporate chess into the corporation's sporting and cultural plans; he plays the royal game himself and appreciates the valuable life lessons it inculcates. Also, his five-year-old son, Yeshawah is among the Foundation's trainees and a promising competitor in its tournaments.
"The purpose of the corporation's programme," says Chairman Smith "is to help young people develop skills to improve the quality of their lives and to open up opportunities for them to excel. And who knows? We my eventually produce the country's first grandmaster."
In joining with the DMRC to bring chess to the people of Carenage, the T&T Chess Foundation is helping to break new ground for the sport. Let's hope it moves on from there.
?