
- #I having problems with my dinosaur chess software software
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Last year, aged 14, she became the youngest ever titled Scottish player after obtaining the Women FIDE Master title in the Dresden olympiad. If the bid is successful, the computers will also be used by younger players to play Dinosaur Chess.Īt the tender age of 12, Rhian Hughes, an S5 pupil at James Gillespie’s High in Edinburgh, was the youngest member of the Scottish team competing in the olympiad in Turin in 2006. “In India, they actually have a chess school,” he says. Now, Mr Mills is applying for lottery funding to buy laptops for the club which will be used to allow pupils to play children from different parts of the world. She and the headteacher, Alison Noble, say that as a result of playing chess, the children’s critical thinking skills, ability to problem-solve and concentration have all improved. “I had no negative feedback from teachers,” said Ms Gallagher. This year, the school hopes it will be used in classes.
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The software has been installed on the computers in the school’s IT suite and was trialled by teachers from P1-7 at the end of last term.
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Now chess has begun to spill into lessons after Mr Mills introduced Ms Gallagher, also the school’s ICT co-ordinator, to the computer game Dinosaur Chess, available free from Chess Scotland. Lucy Gallagher, principal teacher, feels the rapid expansion over recent years is largely down to Mr Mills. It takes four adult volunteers, two learning assistants and three junior trainers to run it. When Sciennes’s chess club, which is open to pupils from P1-7, meets on a Monday night, it can barely squeeze into three classrooms. “It is vital that when pupils achieve success we give them the recognition they deserve and, where possible, support them.” The academy will be a centre of excellence for the area, accessible to all Edinburgh schools, he says.

It will be up and running before the end of the year, he predicts. However, headteacher Alex Wallace has ambitions to set up a “chess academy” at the school. Surprisingly, Gillespie’s has no chess club. It scooped this year’s Scotsman Cup for Scottish secondaries and at the weekend 18 Scottish youngsters headed to Italy for the European Youth Chess Championship, with around half of the players coming from the Edinburgh schools. James Gillespie’s High, the local secondary for two of the three Edinburgh primaries, is reaping the benefits.

“Another stronghold is in Giffnock, in East Renfrewshire.” “The key factor in their success is individual, one-on-one coaching which is something a lot of school clubs just don’t have,” explains Phil Thomas, international junior director for Chess Scotland. Each is run by a parent, with Mike Scott at the helm of James Gillespie’s and Norman Skillen leading the way at South Morningside. South Morningside Primary and James Gillespie’s Primary also have flourishing chess clubs, producing some of Scotland’s best young players. In this part of the city, “a cluster of excellence” exists, according to former schools director of Chess Scotland, Craig Pritchett. Mr Mills, however, is not the only Edinburgh parent determined to promote the sport. Teachers have adopted the computer game Dinosaur Chess after being introduced to it by club leader Derek Mills, who was using it to hone young players’ skills. The chess club at Sciennes Primary is bursting at the seams with more than 80 members, and children from other schools are clamouring to join.Ĭhess has even started to filter into primary lessons. A “cluster of excellence” in school-based chess coaching has formed in Scotland’s capital, and now the local secondary has ambitions to open a “chess academy”.
