Chess

 

The Role of Chess in Modern Education

  • Chess develops the mind, increasing strategic, analytical and critical thinking skills. Students who play chess are able to recognize complex patterns and consequently excel in Math and Science.
  • Researchers in the late eighties in the US have confirmed that meaningful knowledge is stored in memory in the form of network and patterns, and these patterns provide the roots essential for recall. Chess develops the ability to recall as Chess players develop complex but efficient structures for memory storage and management.
  • Chess also develops intuition. This can be a useful tool in education. Intuition is generally undervalued in educational terms but can be a very useful tool in both problem solving and real life applications when the steps to solve a problem are not easily apparent. In the words of Garry Kasparov, there are two elements in chess: Tactics and Strategy. “Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do and strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do”.
  • Researchers suggest that while students playing chess learn concepts through physical and visual stimuli and correlate these concepts to cognitive patterns, mathematics in the classroom usually involves only pure symbolic manipulation. There is evidence that chess acts as a sort of link in connecting form (symbolic) with understanding (Physical and visual).
  • A researcher of IBM states conclusively that chess enhances reading ability in students because it develops cognitive, attention and visualization skills.
  • Chess teaches concentration, self-discipline, patience and it encourages socialization skills, Chess is fun!
  • Chess has been part of the curriculum for most Russian Schools for over 40 years now. More recently, the United States, China, England and some other countries have used chess for various learning techniques in a large number of schools.

Grand Master’s Historical Visit

Dr. Nigel Short the world renowned Chess Grand Master on visit to Pakistan inaugurated The Punjab chess Championship. In the opening ceremony the grand master played consecutive chess games with the winners of “The Little Master of Lahore”, the tournament organized by The Laurelbank School System. M. Mohsin, Wajahat Riaz, Tehreem Yaseen from Shalimar Campus I and Rawail Gul from Alhamra Town Campus were the participants. The grand master appreciated the efforts of The Laurebank School System in providing a platform for young chess players and in introducing chess as a subject.

Chess Tournament “The Little Master of Lahore” 2012

The 2nd Inter-School Grand Chess Tournament ‘The Little Master of Lahore’ 2012 was held from 15th – 17th Nov. 2012 at The Alhamra Town Campus of The Laurelbank School System. Students from renowned schools of Lahore including Aitchison College, Beaconhouse School System-Garden Town and Gulberg Campuses, LGS-Paragon and Johar Town Campuses, NGS-Gulberg Campus, LACAS-Paragon Campus, Unique High School, Bloomfield Hall Johar Town, Les Anges Montessori Academy, Lahore Garrision-Township and The Laurelbank School System participated in this well contested event.

The students played under two age categories i.e. under 13 and under 17 age groups. Muhammad Shehryar from The Laurelbank School System won the title of ‘The Little Master of Lahore’ and a cash prize of Rs. 8,000/- in U-17 age group. Zorez Shabkhez and Ibreez Shabkhez from the Beaconhouse School System won 2nd and 3rd positions with cash prizes of Rs. 4,000/- and Rs. 2,000/- respectively.

In under 13 age group Naukhez Shabkhez from the Beaconhouse School System won the title of ‘The Little Master of Lahore’ with a cash prize of Rs. 8,000/- while Mehak Gul from the Lahore Garrision-Township and Ahmad Mubarik Faisal from Unique High School-Faisal Town received Rs. 4,000/- and Rs. 2,000/- for securing 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.

The participants who got 4th, 5th and 6th positions also received cash prizes of Rs. 1,000/- each in both the categories.

Mr. Amir Bhatti–President Punjab Chess Association, Mr. Johar Saleem–Pakistan’s Ambassador to Bahrain and Mrs. Rukhsana Sarwar-Advocate High Court were chief guests on the occasion. The chief guests distributed prizes among the winners of the tournament. They appreciated the young chess players and the LSS efforts for promoting chess in Pakistan.


 Chess Tournament “The Little Master of Lahore” 2011

For the first time in LSS history a grand chess tournament was held at The Laurelbank School System, Alhamra Town Campus from 17-19 November, 2011 in collaboration with The Punjab Chess Association. It was one of the largest chess tournaments ever held in Pakistan at the school level.

A total of eighty-six students from the Aitchison School, Garrison Academy, LGS EME Campuses, LGS Township, LGS Model Town, LGS Girls & Boys (Johar Town), Beaconhouse Johar Town, Garden Town & Canal Side Campus, The Government College University, The Punjab School and Laurelbank School System participated in this well contested tournament.

The Chief Guest Mr. Amir Bhatti, President Punjab Chess Association appreciated The Laurelbank Public School for organizing this mega event. He gave away prizes to the “Little Masters” of Lahore. They were awarded Rs. 7000/- and a Gold medal each. The Runners up Abdul Fatir LGS EME and Tahir Mahmood of Laurelbank School System were awarded Silver medals along with cash of Rs. 3000/- each. The 3rd position holder Arbaz Omar of the Aitchison School and Wijdan Sehar of LGS EME were awarded with bronze medals and cash prizes of Rs. 1000/- each.

The President, Punjab Chess Association, further stated that the cash prizes and efforts of The Laurelbank School System would go a long way in promoting chess in the country. He hoped that this would lead to a chain reaction effect boosting the chances of Pakistan bringing laurels for the country in this mind sport.

The Punjab Chess Association awarded consolation prizes to the 4th, 5th and 6th position holders in both the categories and offered all the winners free entry in their upcoming Chess Tournaments.

 

LSS Chess Club

Laurelbank Public School has engaged National Chess Master of Pakistan and Olympian Mr. Abdul Qayyum Rana as a coach for our Chess Club. He has vast coaching experience. He has been Punjab Champion (4 times) and Lahore Champion (5 times).