Nine-time National Chess Champion of Jamaica, FIDE Master, Warren Elliott, will be overseeing chess programme to instruct children and young adults in the sport.

The programme is to be rolled out across St. Andrew North Western, says Member of Parliament for the area, Dr. Nigel Clarke.

Member of Parliament for the area, Dr. Nigel Clarke, said the initiative is to be used as a social development tool to teach young persons the discipline of the sport and how to apply these valuable tenets to real life.

“Through the game of chess, which is a metaphor for life, we are going to inculcate certain values in our young people here in Sherlock. Our young men will learn how to add to their discipline, how to think through their problems, how to negotiate situations and how to connect action with result, to connect plans with outcomes, and how to connect dreams with goals,” he said.

Clarke, who is also the Minister of Finance and the Public Service, said the introduction of the programme is part of a larger social intervention intended to teach young people in these communities the value of critical thinking and its implications on their future outcomes.

“Chess is a thinking game. Chess is a game where you have to learn critical thinking, you have to learn to be strategic and tactical, and you have to learn to control your emotions. It teaches you to think before you move, and how important a life lesson is that for young children and young adults to learn – to think before you act,” he noted.

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