Malcolm Pein and the CSC (Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK-based charity organization) donated 11 000 eur dedicated to the development of youth chess in Ukraine. Malcolm Pein said, “I congratulate the Ukrainian team on their successes, particularly because we know you have huge difficulties because of this terrible war which has been launched by Putin. All I can say about the war is Slava Ukraïni. I want to make it clear that the money is coming from an anonymous donor. […] Let’s hope we can do this again and I wish all Ukrainian players even more success.”

New: Alexander Kamyshin is the new President of Ukrainian Chess Federation

This was Mikheil Chkhenkeli’s speech: “Chess, with its rich history, has been serving people’s intellectual development for centuries. It is important that this large-scale and unique tournament, the 44th Chess Olympiad, hosts representatives from many countries from all over the world, embracing many cultures and traditions united by the love towards chess. 

Chess has a centuries-long history in my country as well and has been documented in Georgian literature, poetry, and historical sources. Georgian women chess players have been especially successful worldwide, the most prominent of them are the world acclaimed Nona Gaprindashvili – a five-time world champion and the first woman in chess history to earn the grandmaster title among men- and Maia Chiburdanidze, Georgian chess grandmaster and a five-time world champion. 

We all agree that we live in the age of technological advancements. Therefore, it is vital to raise a generation equipped, from the very early stage of life, with the skills necessary to keep up with the ongoing progress in the modern world.

Chess helps students to develop complex skills. Among them are – concentration, memory, logical and critical thinking. It helps to establish value judgments, make decisions and solve problems with creativity. Chess is indeed a very effective educational tool. It is also related to the competencies defined by mathematics and other subject standards. 

With this in mind, the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia made an important decision to introduce chess as a mandatory subject for first-grade students from the 2022-2023 academic year. It has to be noted that our decision aligns with the requirement envisaged by the Declaration of the European Parliament of March 15, 2012, on the introduction of chess in Education systems. Currently, the Ministry is carrying out intensive teacher training in cooperation with the Georgian Chess Federation.

I’m deeply honored by the award for the commitment to promoting and developing Chess in schools granted by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). This is the recognition I highly value and cherish. I’m happy to have contributed to the development of children by supporting chess education in schools from an early age”.

According to the decision of the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli, students will learn chess as a mandatory subject in the first grade from September 2022-2023. Read more: Chess will be a compulsory subject in 2200 Georgian schools

The Conference features the following themes:

• CGS project overall presentation
• Psychomotricity on giant chessboard – CATLE/ERASMUS+ project
• The final report of the CGS research
• Chess and Coding presentation
• Guidelines for Teachers presentation
• Interactive online training platform

The speakers of the Conference are: ECU Secretary General, Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou, Luis Blasco de la Cruz (Club Villalba 64), Davide Della Rina – Turin University, Chairman of ECU EDU Commission Jesper Hall, Miriam Minardi – CSEN, Alessandro Dominici – Alfiere Bianco, ECU president Zurab Azmaiparashvili, ECU Vice President and FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece Ozola, and Bea Johner – President of Chess4kids Association Zurich.

LIVE broadcast of the Conference Part 1: (scroll down for Part 2)

LIVE broadcast of the Conference Part 2:

Read more: FIDE ECU Survey on Chess in Schools / CASTLE conference in Turin / Chess in School Conference in Warsaw, Poland / Chess in School Conference – European Parliament, Brussels

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The idea to introduce chess in schools as an effective form of supporting education was founded in Polish chess environment many years ago. The direct stimulus for the start of implementation came from the European Parliament in 2012 when declaration calling on all member states of the European Union to introduce education of chess in educational settings was signed.

The project grew out of the need to increase primary mathematical skills. Playing chess improves logical and analytical thinking, problem solving skills, development of spatial orientation, concentration and many others. Through chess we try to support intellectual, social and emotional development of children.

Due to the expected positive impact on children’s education process, as well as providing teachers innovative and efficient tools for daily work with students project gained acceptance by the Minister of National Education.

One of the things that will promote the Chess in School project to the wider auditorium and introduce its potential is a Chess Conference to be held in Warsaw, Poland, on 20th May 2016, at the Sport and Recreation Center.

The Conference will include lectures on many interesting topics, with guests from Hungary and Germany, guests from Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw, as well as the representative teachers working in primary and hospital schools.

Deputy President of City of Warsaw, Mr. Wlodzimierz Paszynski, and Director of Chess in School Commission within Polish Chess Federation, Mr. Krzysztof Gora will open the Conference, while Mr. Tomasz Delega, President of Polish Chess Federation, along with Mrs. Ewa Przezdziecka, the author of the book „Chess scenarios for the teachers” will talk about the chess in Poland.

The organizers expect big audience – teachers from the project, chess instructors, trainers and many people engaged to the project.

The full programme of the Conference can be found here (PDF)

Piotr Murdzia
Chief of Training at Polish Chess Federation

The Conference was attended by the European Union officials and Members of the European Parliament, FIDE, ECU and National Federations’ representatives, among whom Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the ECU President, Mrs. Ana Claudia Tapardel, MEP, Mr. Kevin O’Connell, Chairman of FIDE Chess in School Commission, Mr. Irakli Rekhviashvili representative of the Bank of Georgia, the main sponsor of the ECU, and numerous school teachers.

Mr. Azmaiparashvili and Mrs. Tapardel addressed to all the present with the welcome speeches and officially opened the Conference. The host of the event, MEP Ana-Claudia Tapardel, expressed her will to organize a conference dedicated to CIS every year, and the goal for the next year will be to present what has been done since the last conference.

The ECU President gave five rewards – to MEPs Ana Claudia Tapardel from Romania and Silvia Costa from Italy, to Mr. Sorin Iacoban, President of Romanian Chess Federation and Member of Romanian Parliament, and to Judit Polgar and Garry Kasparov chess foundations, for their contribution in the implementation of chess as a subject in the European schools.

After the opening speeches, Mr. Jesper Hall (Sweden), Chairman of the Educational Commission of the ECU introduced all the speakers, as well as the ECU survey which was conducted last year.

Mr. Martin Huba (Slovakia), the ECU Treasurer, presented the ECU-EU potential projects.

The conference was well covered in the media and it was broadcast live on YouTube: Part 1 and Part 2.

Special thanks to the Bank of Georgia for sponsoring the Conference with 10.000 euros.