Chess in St Catherine’s
Ms Cronin writes:
Chess has been a hobby
of mine for a long, long time (since I was a teenager!). I’ve
always been interested in coaching as well as playing – I started
with my unfortunate younger brother and sisters, then ran classes
in my secondary school for the younger students; when I was at university,
I ran a junior chess club on the north side of Dublin. I enjoyed that
so much it convinced me to do primary school teaching. When I got
my first job I set up a school chess club immediately, and then when
I came to St Catherine’s nearly 13 years ago, I continued my
master plan – getting kids hooked on chess!
We play every Friday afternoon for about forty minutes, and this session
is open to everyone in the school from first class up. I teach the
children the rules in their first few weeks in first class, so they
get an early start on the road to being a grandmaster! We have ladder
competitions in the first and second term, and then school and class
championships from April to June.
On Mondays after school is the serious stuff – chess coaching
for the top players in the school and any improving younger players.
In this hour the mysteries of Scholar’s Mate, the Copy-cat trap,
the Fried Liver Attack and the Danish Gambit are introduced. We also
play “Guess the Next Move” in which I show a grandmaster
game on the demonstration board and the students have to guess what
the expert played in each position.
We have a school team that takes part in the National Checkmate competition
and our girls’ team competes in the ChessZ League. Our best
year ever was 2001, when we came 3rd in the National Checkmate and
got the prize for the best team in Dublin. That year also two girls
from the school, Karen Vejsbjerg and Isabel O’Brien, were chosen
to play for Ireland on the Under-14 team. Since then we’ve been
regrouping! Best of luck this year to our representatives: Sam Darcy,
Thomas Butler, Oliver Hughes and Niamh McCabe.
I think chess is an ideal hobby for a school as it helps kids learn
to concentrate, to plan ahead and to win and lose gracefully. The
equipment is cheap and it can be played indoors on a rainy lunch-break.
Above all, it’s fun!
Archive photos 2005/2006
