Check Mates... Meath primary schools gather for chess tournament

Chess enthusiasts from seven Meath primary schools gathered at Scoil Naomh Barra, Wilkinstown, last Thursday as the school hosted its first chess tournament, organised by Ficheall.

The school hall was packed as 120 students faced off against each other all under the watchful eye of Ficheall arbiter Tony McMahon. Ficheall - the Irish word for chess - is the network of primary school teachers in Ireland who promote the playing of chess in schools and this was not only Wilkinstown NS's first time to host a 'Féile Ficheall', it was also their first time to take part in one. It was also Bohermeen NS's first tournament.

The event brought together both 'buds' teams for third and fourth class pupils and 'masters' teams for the older fifth and sixth class children who pitted their skills against each other in a fun environment.

The seven schools taking part on Thursday were Wilkinstown NS, St Joseph's Mercy, Navan, Nobber NS, Kentstown NS, Headfort School, Kells, Bohermeen NS and Moynalty NS.

The tournament was co-hosted by Nobber NS teacher Sinéad Broderick and Wilkinstown Principal James Minnock and each child taking part played six games of chess. It was a non-competitive, inclusive, event and the children all enjoyed the chance to play face-to-face and put the skills they had learned into practice.

Ms Broderick, a co-host of the Féile Ficheall, explained that they encourage schools taking part to wear their school jerseys and said for some of the children who are not into playing sports, it may have been the first time that they had the chance to wear their school jersey.

She told how she herself only learned to play chess as an adult in 2017 and then introduced it into Nobber NS.

"I was taught by Ficheall founder Liam Murray at a course in Navan Educate Together. They run courses every summer for teachers to learn chess and how to teach chess to children."

She is encouraging other schools to think about introducing chess and said it is a great lifeskill and social skill to teach the children and brings together Maths, English, wellbeing, critical thinking and strategy.

Just the previous week, St Paul's NS in Navan hosted two days of tournaments and teacher Sarah McLoughlin is one of the Ficheall co-ordinators in the area along with Shane Finnegan in Ballinlough NS.

Some of the Meath teachers involved in chess have also come together to host weekly online tournaments on Wednesday evenings in preparation for the face-to-face tournaments and these have been very successful. Before Christmas, schools across the country also took part in a series of online tournaments.

Navan Library hosts chess sessions every Saturday morning from 10.30am to 12noon where children can drop in and play.

Ficheall is a non-profit organisation and has a seven-member board of directors who oversee the operations of the organisation nationally. The Ficheall board works closely with selected coordinators in each geographical area of Ireland who, in turn, support teachers to promote chess in their school for the social and cognitive benefits it has for students.

All board members, area coordinators and chess leaders in schools are registered primary school teachers and give their time and skills on a voluntary basis.

Nationally 650 schools are involved in Ficheall which is one in every five schools. This year approximately 14,000 attended 116 Féile events and there are over 1,000 teachers co-ordinating chess in their schools.

Last year, on 30th May during Ficheall Chess Hour, a new national record for the most primary school children playing chess simultaneously was set - 6,035. This was organised to celebrate the launch of Ireland hosting the European Schools Championships for the first time.