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If your child is showing a natural aptitude for chess, you should look at the best chess classes in Hong Kong, which will take kids from good to GrandMaster level! Check and mate!
One of our favourite things to do with kids is enjoy a fun family board game night. If your kids are at the age where they’ve graduated from the baby games and can tackle a challenge, why not introduce them to chess? It’s is a great game (sport, actually! More on that later) and kids can reap enormous benefits from learning chess. We round up the best chess classes and clubs in Hong Kong for children.
Read More: Game On! Best Board Games To Play With The Family
Is Chess A Sport?
There isn’t a clear answer to that. It IS considered a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which recognises Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) or the World Chess Federation as an official sports federation. Despite that, because of the lack of physical challenge, it is not included as an Olympic sport. Does that mean that your chess-loving kids will never have the chance to go for Olympic glory? The Chess Olympiad is held every two years with teams representing nations of the world competing for chess glory. Also, chess has been included as a sport in the Asian Games and there are plenty of international tournaments and show matches where your young chess champions will get a chance to shine.
The Benefits Of Learning Chess For Kids
Learning any sport is good for kids, but learning chess has some particular benefits.
- Chess helps build perspective. Arguably, this is because chess involves constant anticipation and visualisation of an opponent’s moves, but this can have an added benefit of opening a child’s mind to a different point of view, increasing empathy and nurturing healthy inter-personal relationships.
- It improves memory and focus. This is an obvious advantage of learning chess. Chess can help players of any age, and some studies suggest that it could help fight neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, so it’s a good idea to have your kids team off against your parents at chess!
- Chess improves your planning and organisation skills. In today’s day and age, parents often groan about how their kids have it too easy and seem to be losing the ability to do things for themselves. Try chess! Kids who are good at chess are often good at planning the everyday aspects of their life a little better.
- Playing chess can help children with ADHD. A study in 2016 showed a 41% decrease in both inattentiveness and over-activity in children with ADHD when they played chess regularly.
- Chess gets kids away from phones. Of course, playing chess online sometimes means that they are not away from screens, but it isn’t mindless scrolling and flashing images.
- Chess improves both creativity and problem-solving skills. Because chess involves thinking on your feet and improvising tactics and move combinations. This helps kids to think out of the box and come up with new solutions.
- Chess can teach children to be responsible. There are some lessons that are best taught through a game or sport. With such high levels of concentration and tactical thinking, one wrong move could get a chess player in trouble. Understanding that can help a child realise cause and effect, action and consequence better than any instruction from parents.
- Last but not the least, chess can help a child’s self-confidence as well as self-reliance. Played on an individual level, a child knows that he or she is solely responsible for the outcome. That gives a child a tremendous feeling of responsibility and pride in one’s own ability.
Read More: Hong Kong At The Paris Olympics 2024 – What To Expect This Year
Chess Classes & Chess Clubs In Hong Kong
The Chess Academy (TCA) At ActiveKids – After-school chess classes, holiday camps, chess tournaments and more
ActiveKids‘ The Chess Academy (TCA) promises not only to teach your child chess but also to help build character through playing chess. The team at TCA is extremely well qualified, including two GrandMasters, International Masters, FIDE Masters and trainers as well as National Experts. Realising that chess needs to be played competitively to hone a player’s skills, TCA also organises regular chess tournaments in Hong Kong. You can sign your child up for its Road-to-Masters chess programme which is for kids from 4 to 17 years, conducted both in-person and online. The Chess Academy also conducts popular holiday camps, so if you’re looking for an option this summer, you can give it a shot!
ActiveKids – The Chess Academy (TCA), Unit A, 1/F, Nan Sang Building, 86 Belcher’s Street, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong, 3480 4199, [email protected], www.activekidshk.com
Scholastic Chess – Chess classes at school campuses in Hong Kong
This chess club manages on-campus chess programmes at many schools in Hong Kong, from preschools to secondary schools. It also offers private and small-group classes as well as chess tournament training.
Scholastic Chess, Room 901 , 9/F Yat Fat Building, 44-46 Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong, 6629 5092, www.scholasticchess.hk
Caissa Chess Hong Kong – Chess instruction since 2012
This is a well-established chess class provider in Hong Kong that has been working with schools and organising regular chess tournaments in the city. It also offers the Caissa Talent Program for rising chess stars and training them to bring them up to tournament level.
Caissa Chess Hong Kong, 6F, Office D, Wing Cheong Commercial Building, 19-25 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Caissa Chess Hong Kong, Unit 13, LG., Block 2, Office Building, 96 Siena Avenue, Discovery Bay North, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, 6938 7603, www.caissahk.org
Hong Kong Junior Chess Club (HKJCC)– Non-profit organisation for the development of chess
This one is as old as Hong Kong itself! HKJCC was established in 1997 to promote chess as a fun sport. For over 20 years, it has organised three chess events every year – the Hong Kong Junior Chess Championship, the Hong Kong Inter-Schools Championship and the Hong Kong Junior Rapid Chess Championship. Get in touch with them if your future chess champion is keen to start participating in chess tournaments in Hong Kong and overseas.
Hong Kong Junior Chess Club, 9215 2682, www.hkjuniorchess.org
Read More: Hong Kong Fencing Schools For Kids – Where To Learn Fencing
Other Chess Classes In Hong Kong & Online
- EC Chess – This chess academy offers Chinese chess and international chess. www.ecchess.com
- Kidult Chess Academy – Classes conducted in Cantonese, Mandarin and English for regular and elite chess players. www.kidultc.com
- C for Chess – Regular and online chess classes for children from 3 to 18 years. www.cforchess.com
- Hong Kong Chess & Go Academy – Chess classes in Wong Chuk Hang, Diamond Hill and Taikoo Shing. www.hkchessgo.com
Read More: The Best Extracurricular Activities And After School Classes In Hong Kong
