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Most of the activities at Wallace Chess are with children, be it at a school chess club, a private lesson or a holiday chess camp. Wallace Chess staff realise that this is both a great honour and a great responsibility, and take seriously the role of reinforcing in the children our core values. Indeed our purpose, our reason for being, is to use chess as a vehicle to enrich the lives of children and adults and this involves far more than teaching the intricacies of what happens on the checkered board.

We also believe in the supreme importance of a stable and consistent learning environment. As all of the Wallace Chess staff aspire to live out our values in our own actions, the children are provided with teachers and a general atmosphere that is positive and feels the same each time.

Our most important values include:

Sportsmanship Respect & Honesty

Competition brings up all sorts of emotions to the surface, and the skilled competitor knows how to behave appropriately even when he or she might feel very differently inside. Routines help immensely with this: shaking hands and ‘good luck’ before the game, shaking hands again and ‘well played’ at the end of the game.

When you treat your opponent with respect you not only honour him or her, you also honour yourself and the game. After all, what is your opponent but a fellow human being who like you deserves to be treated with dignity at all times.

Young children are not always used to having to ‘play by the rules’ and chess provides a wonderful opportunity for them to develop their honesty.

Team-spirit & Making friends

Chess can be a very individual game and it is very important to us that wherever possible children are encouraged to feel camaraderie with there fellow players. Fun team games such as exchange chess enable this, whilst the children also receive guidance in how to support each other and feel positive towards their peers.

One of the original ideas of the Sunday Rookies Chess Coaching was to create a team atmosphere where a group of children can train regularly together and  for those of them that are ready to go together to tournaments together as a squad.

During chess camps the importance of making new friends and never teasing but instead strengthening each others’ confidence is always emphasised.

Having fun

If lessons are fun, children will be more attentive and retain more. They will also be much keener to study on their own. Everyone will have a better time. Simple, really!

Patience Focus & Determination

What better way for a 4 year old to learn patience than to sit down and play a game that might take half an hour to complete? Children are also taught to be patient with each other and to have a patient approach in life – as good things come to those who wait if you are always plodding along in the right direction.

The structure of chess provides a perfect medium to both encourage and reward concentration, because the longer you sit there and the more possibilities you sift through, the better your moves will be!

The determination to sit there for as long as it takes to grind out a win in a close game, or even tougher: to hang on in there hoping for a draw when your back is against the wall, this skill is one that is not only essential for a top chess player but will also be a gift in life for any student of the game.

Self-discipline

As in life, chess mastery must begin with self mastery. Combining all of the above traits with the hard work of forming plans and calculating away – the nuts and bolts of the chess game – will both require and develop discipline. Even more so when there are distractions or other stressors. But what a gift chess gives to its students, who can take all these qualities out into the world.