Strategy and sociability on the Ficheall boards

A Schools Chess Festival hosted in Scoil Bhride in Kilcullen last week brought together 160 primary school children from eight local schools, writes Brian Byrne, for a day of moving and counter-moving on the boards that not just helped them develop problem-solving skills, but was also clearly a lot of fun.

Organised under the auspices of Ficheall, a network of primary school teachers who promote the playing of chess in schools, the event was one of a series held in Kildare — others take place during the school year in Crookstown, Maynooth and Naas.

"Teams from the schools compete with each other over six rounds in the day," says Denis Reilly of Scoil Bhride, who began teaching chess in the school when he arrived there seven years ago. He runs an after-school Chess Club which involves pupils from First right through to Sixth classes. The club has been very successful over several years, and Scoil Bhride bought extra chess sets this year to cope with the interest throughout the school.

Lessons in the game are provided online at Ficheall.ie — Ficheall is the Irish name for Chess. They start with basic introductions to the game and the children can build from there. "It has step by step guides, and is really easy to follow by anyone," says Denis Reilly. "During Covid we launched a really big online campaign, getting the children to play against each other across the internet. They also got to play with other children all over the country."

But you can't beat the atmosphere of a real faces to faces competitive situation, and watching the moves being made on 80 chessboards in the Scoil Bhride hall last week was a fascinating occasion. Teams with their chaperones had come by bus from Scoil Naomh Iósaf in Baltinglass, Two Mile House NS, St Patrick's NS Newbridge, Scoil Eimhín Naofa Monasterevin, Blessington Educate Together, St Brigid's Primary School Kildare, and Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha Kildare.

Though competitive, the events are primarily for fun. Each school gets a certificate to mark their participation in the series, framed if it is their first time. The certificates at the Scoil Bhride event were presented to the team chaperones by Siobhan Kavanagh of the Kildare Education Support Centre, which among other activities provides summer events for teachers to learn activities such as chess so they can get involved in teaching them at school. She told the children that they should always try to find activities that they like, whatever they are. "Keep trying until you find your passion," she said.

With the certificates presented at the event, Denis Reilly, Scoil Bhride Kilcullen; Miriam Lewis, Kildare Education Support Centre; Siobhan Kavanagh, Director of Kildare Education Support Centre; Seaus McEnhill, Scoil Bhride Kilcullen; Meabh Doorley, Scoil Eimhín Naofa Monasterevin; Stephanie Nic An Bhaird, Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha Kildare; Adrian O'Connor, Two Mile House NS; Joe O'Connor, St Patrick's NS Newbridge; Cliodhna Denny, St Brigid's NS Kildare; and Jonathan and James from Blessington Educate Together.

Scoil Bhride principal Ann Flanagan says that playing chess is particularly good for developing mental skills that are very useful in school subjects. These include decoding, analysis, thinking and comprehension, all necessary for reading, as well as thinking skills needed for maths. "It's also very social," she added, "as the children are interacting with each other all the time." Denis Reilly noted that chess offers both competitive and social outlets for children who may not necessarily be interested in other group pursuits such as sports. 

So parents whose children come home excited about the King's Indian Attack, the Queen's Gambit, Scholar's Mate or the Sicilian Defence can rest easy in the knowledge that the youngsters have been having just as much fun with each other as they'd have had kicking a ball around a field. And learning just as much as their sports-loving classmates about strategy and tactics and getting along with each other.

(This article was first published in The Kildare Nationalist.)

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