The Empower Girls’ Chess Tournament 2019
Date: 12th Jun 2019 @ 10:10am
Fifty girls from eight schools around Merseyside enjoyed the first Empower Girls Chess Tournament staged at Our Lady and St Edward’s on 10th June, organised by the school and the charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC).
The day was designed to inspire girls to play chess, a game usually dominated by boys, but less so on Merseyside where CSC teaches the game in the classroom, in over 20 schools, ensuring equal participation. The girls heard from Maria Eagle MP a former top junior chess player and other female chess players from Liverpool; talking about how playing chess at a young age helped them at school and in later life.
All of the girls participated in a tournament and faced an International Chess Master in a simultaneous display given by the CSC Chief Executive Malcolm Pein, a former British Junior champion, who played with Maria and her sister Angela for Merseyside.
All of the girls received a chess set and the book Checkmate by Garry Kasparov the greatest player in the history of the game.
Girls attended from:
Our Lady and St Edwards R C Primary School
St Bridget’s Primary School
William of York Primary School
New Brighton Primary School
Monksdown Primary School
Our Lady of Pity RC Primary School
Dawpoo Primary School
Greasby Junior School
Holy Trinity Primary School
Elaine Mc Gunigall (Head Teacher) commented:
As part of our new venture, Our Lady and Saint Edwards (Year 5) have been working with Chess in Schools and Communities for the past year.
The impact of learning how to play chess on the children's' confidence and their attitude to learning has been far beyond our expectations and resulted in the Governors agreeing to roll out chess, next year, across the whole of Key Stage 2.
Not only have the children embraced learning the skills required to play chess, but also a range of life-skills including: resilience, logical thinking, the consequences of their choices and the tools for reflecting on their actions.
We are absolutely delighted to be hosting the UK Girls Empower Tournament and continuing to inspire young girls.
Malcolm Pein commented:
Liverpool has a fine chess tradition. We hope we can produce another British Women’s Champion like Woman Grandmaster Sheila Jackson who attended Broad Square Primary School. We are delighted to hold this, the first event of its kind in the UK in Liverpool and look forward to seeing many girls amongst the prize winners at St Georges Hall later this month.
About Chess in Schools and Communities:
Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) is a UK charity whose mission is to improve children’s educational outcomes and social development by introducing them to the game of chess. Founded in 2009, CSC now runs over 1,000 projects across the UK in schools, libraries and prisons including weekly lessons at 22 schools in Merseyside. CSC also organises an annual tournament every June at St Georges Hall and a world-class tournament, the London Chess Classic each December.
For more information visit: Chessinschools.co.uk.