The Barbican community is to benefit from a new chess programme launched at the Grants Pen Police Station in Kingston on March 16.

The 'Big Up Yuh Chess' Chess-in-Communities initiative will see 30 individuals from the community learning to play the sport and teaching others to play.

Participants will meet twice per week for two hours each session. Chess sets and all necessary instructional material will be provided for all participants. A designated chess coach has also been assigned to guide the learning process.

Similar backgrounds

In a release, Sash-Nicole Noble, general manager of the Magnificent Chess Foundation, which spearheaded the programme, said: "Our chess coaches are from similar backgrounds to the participants that were chosen from the National Youth Service and trained extensively in playing and teaching the game of chess."

She further said that she was anticipating the interaction between instructor and participants to be effortless.

This first phase ends on June 3, and will immediately be followed by a tournament for all the participants.

Noble said that community-based chess programmes of this nature are rampant in the United States, and are credited for saving many youth in urban centre from the hazards of the streets. The first black chess grandmaster, Maurice Ashley, was born and raised in Jamaica. In his book, 'Chess for Success', he chronicles how his involvement with chess saved him from becoming involved in gangs when he first arrived in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 12.

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Some of the kids interact with trainers during their session at the Grants Pen Police Station community room. The initiative will see the Magnificent Chess Foundation providing game material and expertise for four hours each week until June 3. - Contributed