Process Academy takes chess to schools

Chairman of Process Academy and president, Nigeria Chess Federation, Mr Olalekan Adeyemi, has expressed readiness to introduce chess to schools in Oyo State.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the programme tagged “Pro Summer Chess Camp” organised for children between the ages of four and 16 held at Mellanby Hall, University of Ibadan on Saturday, he said arrangements are in top gear to kick start the programme by next month.

Adeyemi who is the vice president, International Chess Federation said that Pro Summer Chess Camp is going to be held every end of term holiday for students in primary and secondary schools.

“We are trying to introduce chess to teenagers and apart from chess being a sport, there are so many benefits that these youngsters can derive from playing chess.

ALSO READ:  Tokyo 2020: Expect better results in future —Are

“Chess can be used to develop so many attributes in them like calculating ability, analytical ability, concentration, critical thinking, pattern recognition and even decision making. So all these attributes can be developed by these children through chess. This programme can also assist these youngsters to perform better in academics.

“We have spoken to several schools and we have gotten positive responses from them, so by September [next month] we are going to start ‘Chess in schools’. We want to ensure that chess becomes part of their life, whether they are in school or they are on holidays,”they would keep playing chess,” Adeyemi said, as he pointed out that efforts will be made to let schools embrace chess by making it to be part of their extra-curricular activities.