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Children show off their mental skills at local event
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THE Shanghai Children’s Chess Winter Regional Tournament was held at Shanghai Centre in downtown Jing’an District yesterday. Organized by the Shanghai Chess Academy, the one-day event featured 40 children, aged between 5 and 16 years.
The players were selected from 14 international schools in Shanghai. They were divided into three age groups to play Swiss-style rapid chess. Prizes were set for individual overall champion, school team champion and age bracket champions.
It was one of the highest level tournaments for children organized by the SCA in the city. The academy, established only last year, provides chess coaching for kids. Some of its top students already own FIDE (World Chess Federation) ranking points.
“Chess has a good grounding in China, and I’m not surprised to see a lot of young talents in the schools here,” said Frenchman Sylvain Creton, a full-time coach at SCA. “The average level of young Chinese players is really high.”
Creton, who moved to Shanghai in 2014, is an active player himself, holding a current ELO rating of 1,750.
“Chess is a great sport for children, a brain exercise. It involves calculation, movement strategy, and enhances one’s patience and ability to focus,” he explained, adding that one should start (playing chess) as early as possible.
However, when facing young students aged at 5 or 6, the priority will be to arouse their interest in the sport.
“To balance fun and quality in teaching becomes a major task for teachers. I try to make chess learning fun for small kids at the beginning level, even making them do role play in a class. The next stage is to improve their skills and teach them tricks and strategies.”
According to Creton, chess is a globally growing sport, with the number of participants increasing every year.
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