The tournament was held at the Knights’ Academy and was one of the events organised as part of Legnica Festival. The competition featured ten-member teams from all 12 primary schools covered by the “Legnica Residents Checkmate” programme. The event was opened by Mayor Tadeusz Krzakowski.
The “Legnica Residents Checkmate” educational programme was launched in September last year. Around 500 pupils from 12 Legnica primary schools have been learning to play chess. In the coming years, it will also include second- and third-grade pupils. The project is a pioneering undertaking on a national scale. The city encouraged the Polska Miedź Foundation to support the pioneering project; the foundation will provide annual funding of PLN 50,000. The total cost is estimated at PLN 150,000 per year.
Do children enjoy lessons at the chessboard? “They take part in them very willingly,” says Barbara Musiał, who conducts chess classes at Primary School No. 9. “These classes also teach discipline and concentration. The children also play at home with their parents because they like it very much.”
The first-place team was made up of first-graders from Primary School No. 9, but all the young players were winners in this tournament.
UM Legnica/ii