MIND TRAINING

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 6, 9 January 1933, Page 9

MIND TRAINING

CHESS IN SCHOOLS

NEW ZEALAND STANDARD

For mind training and the teaching of logical thinking the game of chess has long been recognised in Europe as invaluable (states the "Auckland Star"). In Soviet Russia, chess has been made a compulsory subject in the schools, with the result that Russia now possesses far more first-class chess players than any: other country. In England' also chess is encouraged by tlTe headmasters of a number of the leading public schools, but it is not allowed to interfere with tho ordinary mental and physical activities of tho average school boy. In Australia, too, chess is being fostered in the schools, with the result that an Adelaide school boy of 17, Condon by name, is competing in the p.resent Australian championship tourney in Sydney, and has alreadydrawn his game with C. J. S. Purdy, who himself won the New Zealand championship a-few. years ago at tho age of 17 years. FAILURE IN TECHNIQUE. Referring to the New Zealand Chess Congress, which was completed last week, Mr. M. E; Goldstein, B.Sc, of England, who has Won the New.Zealand title for 1932-33, said that, considering the remoteness of New Zealand from other countries, _ the standard of play was most creditable. Where the local players failed was in technique, which in any game could only come from wide experience over many years against players of first-class, strength. In several games in the tournament end games were lost which should nave been drawn, because the players lacked the technical experience in that branch of the game. "Most end games," he said, "are more a matter of mathematics than the middle game, and ability to count the moves correctly is an essential if one is to hold-one's own against players of equal ■ strength. I noticed that several of the New Zealand players lacked the sound knowledge of the openings necessary in modern tournament play. It is impossible to do well at the game, however well equipped one may be, unless the player can emerge into the complications of the middle game without having a lost opening. .In all my games when I played white I had a positional advantage as early as tho fifteenth move, due to the defective opening strategy of my opponents." DISQUIETING FEATURE. "It is a rather disquieting feature'of this tournament that the old hands such as Selling and Hicks, of Wellington, Severne, of Nelson, and Erskine, of Southland, still took the leading places among the New Zealand players. This is due to the fact that there seems to be no chess talent being developed among the younger generation. No country can hold its own unless young players are encouraged to come- forward to take the places of the veterans who have upheld the honour of their respective countries for so many years. In this tournament the youngest player was the Da,ne, Beyer, aged 29, of Wellington) and I was the ndst youngest; whereas in the Australian championship now being held in Sydney, there are five players under the,age of 30, all of whom have already won the championships of their respective States. If New Zealand chess is to prosper, it is essential that young talent should be encouraged. This could bo done.by junior 'clubs, with nominal subscription' fees not exceeding, say, 10s per annum. In Sydney a club has recently been formed under the patronago of a leading business firm, which already has a membership of 250 with a subscription.'of 5s per annum. Weekly lectures on the finer points of,the game are a regular feature in this club, and a first-class player has been engaged to give tuition to'tho members, with the result that' the playing strength of the members has shown a marked improvement in the last six months. "In liiy opinion the salvation of New Zealand chess, and thcr production of another champion from the rising generation to take the place of the famous triumvirate who won the .New Zealand championship for so many- years—R. J. Barnes, A. W. O. Davies, and W.E. Mason, the latter of whom is happily s.till with us—lies in (some such scheme."