In Mitchell’s Plain Town Centre Library, breaking the common silence is the back and forth clicking of a chess clock.
On Tuesday 4 July, several children aged between 12 and 16 joined youth players from the Mitchell’s Plain Chess Club to put their strategic prowess to the test at a tournament hosted at the library.
This follows an initiative between the club and library to plough back to the community by teaching youth the game of chess.
Introduced in March, around 10 local children join weekly sessions at the library on Tuesday’s between 14:30 and 16:00. This free initiative is open to all who would like to learn the game.
Founded in 1980 by Reggie Sinden, the Mitchell’s Plain Chess Club produced a grandmaster – Kenny Solomon, also South Africa’s first and only to date.
“Chess helps with school work as it improves the mental faculty of kids. We have been doing chess for years and giving kids averaging 12 years old the platform to learn the game of chess. Today, these children are quite learned. They are doctors, teachers, lawyers and professors. We even produced South Africa’s first grandmaster out of the Mitchell’s Plain Chess Club. We are the only chess club that did that, and now we are ploughing back to the libraries,” says Sinden.
The partnership between the Mitchell’s Plain Town Centre Library and the club started in March after assistant children’s librarian Duma Tiyo visited another library’s programme.
“When you walk in the Town Centre, you see a lot of children running around. They do not necessarily like to read books, but they like to play games, so we get them to play games. Once they play, they want to read more about what they are playing,” he says.
“We are inviting the parents. We want them to bring the children to learn to play the game.”
While the current group age between 12 and 16, Sinden says children as young as seven can learn the game – and win.
Sinden learned the game at 13 and has been involved in chess for the past 50 years.
The club meets at Lentegeur Library every Saturday from 09:00 to 12:00.
Around 10 to 15 children attend the free library sessions, offered Tuesdays from 14:30 to 16:00 and there are no age limits, with the eldest member of the club being 65.
