MOVES are afoot to add a sporting element to learning in Bahrain’s schools with students playing a strategic game to increase their educational prowess.
Playing board games is a well-documented leisure pastime for many Bahrainis of all ages with cafés and outside tables catering for the gatherings.
Chess, which enjoyed a niche presence prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, became increasingly popular as outdoor sports slowed down due to social distancing guidelines.
Since the start of this year, the Education Ministry has been discussing plans to integrate the mind-oriented game into public and private schools.
As a result, public schools’ curriculum will see training, workshops and national-level tournaments introduced, in the hopes of training players to be able and confident enough to compete and win at an international level.
Mr Al Sulaiti
“In 2019, fellow chess instructor Mohammed Tayseer and I worked with the Education Ministry’s Gifted Students Centre, after years of campaigning to have the game made part of the curriculum,” said Bahrain Mind Games Federation chairman and Bahrain Chess Club (BCC) co-founder Ali Al Sulaiti.
“This co-operation resulted in the training of teachers and the initiation of workshops, and school tournaments.
“These continued even during the pandemic and online tournaments were conducted via specialised websites.”
Capitalising on this booming interest, the ministry sensed the importance of chess in personality development and education, according to Mr Al Sulaiti.
He also highlighted the positive impact that chess has continued to have in the education systems of many countries.
Bahrain Chess Tournament in 2019
For the uninitiated, chess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin. Today, chess is one of the world’s most popular games, played by millions of people around the globe.
It is played on a square board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player (one controlling the white pieces, the other controlling the black pieces) controls 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns.
The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in “check”) and there is no way for it to escape. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw.
Author Allan Rufus said: “Life is like a game of chess. To win you have to make a move. Knowing which move to make comes with insight and knowledge, and by learning the lessons that are accumulated along the way. We become each and every piece within the game called life.”
In 2020, the Netflix show ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ dazzled the world with the magic of chess and a new generation of enthusiasts were drawn into the game.
In Bahrain, chess was once exclusive to private gatherings by businessmen and intellectuals, until writer Ebrahim Al Arrayedh and former Industry and Development minister, the late Yousef Al Shirawi, established the Bahrain Chess Federation in 1981.
Mr Al Burshaid
Ever since, Bahraini players have competed both locally and regionally. As such, further integration in schools is seen by Mr Al Sulaiti, and fellow BCC general secretary Ebrahim Al Burshaid, as crucial to cultivating the potential of Bahraini chess players.
“Studies have shown that through this mental sport, individuals improve their decision making, critical thinking and analytical skills,” said Mr Al Burshaid. “As such, it is BCC’s main goal to make chess as accessible as possible.”
To achieve this, BCC has initiated many projects, workshops and tournaments.
Mr Al Burshaid conducted a workshop for talented players last year, who are set to join the national chess team.
He believes that the integration of the table sport in schools will help build a solid base of young Bahrainis, ideally aged five to 10, playing the game.
Mr Al Burshaid cited the examples of schoolboys Husain and Maher Ayyad who are now amongst the kingdom’s top players, as well as Salman Mahmood, who competed in the King Salman World Chess Championship 2017 at the age of 13.
In July this year, BCC plans to participate in the World Chess Olympiad in Moscow, Russia. Mr Al Burshaid sees this as an opportunity for Bahrainis to get worldwide recognition and international playing experience against chess masters.
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