With chess seen as a valuable educational tool, parents and experts have called on the government to introduce the game into the national educational curriculum.
This, according to them, is because chess is about decoding and analysis, thinking strategically, and foreseeing the consequences would improve comprehension and social interaction.
Speaking at a chess clinic recently organised by Lekoyi Empowerment Initiative in Lagos, coach Ola Olawiyi said chess might be the perfect vehicle for teaching children.
He said it is about protecting kings, capturing queens and stealing rooks, but about quadrants and coordinates, lines, angles, weighing the options and making decisions.
Olawiyi noted that chess is becoming a part of global curricula and as such Nigerian must consider introducing the game into the National curriculum.
“The game is fast becoming global, so we can begin to teach them this game. Over five years, we have been involved in organising this clinic for free,” said Olawiyi. “Through this game, kids learn to be strategic in their actions, school and ways of life, and we appreciate our sponsors.”
For her, a member of the trustees of the Lekoyi Academy, Titi Masha, chess helps kids “develop their rational, creative and logical thinking to collaborate differently using cognitive skills to understand what the next person is about to do.”
Also, Ben Langat, a parent, and chess enthusiast, handed out the medals to participating children, said it encouraged kids to embrace the game.