Chess in Moscow: sport schools, themed festivals and city tournaments

02.11.2016 18:00 Просмотров: 79 Печать | E-mail

Thousands of city residents go in for chess, and Moscow is doing its best to promote this game. Where can one learn to play chess in Moscow, and what themed festivals does Moscow regularly host?

Moscow’s chess players regularly win regional and international competitions. The city boasts old chess schools that thrive on new ideas. The Chess at School project encourages children to master the game. Professionals share their experience at special clubs and hobby groups. White and black figures and chessboards have become customary at sport and city festivals.

Chess at School project

The Chess at School foundation, which is running the Chess at School project, has compiled and used various methods for teaching 1st through 4th grade students. Over 750 city schools are testing an experimental software package, with the support of Moscow’s Department of Education, the Moscow Chess Federations and the World Chess Federation. School schedules also feature a third physical fitness course for studying the basics of the game.

The project’s creators are not working to train professional chess players. The programme primarily aims to help children develop their intellect, to master the skills of strategic planning, spatial and systematic thinking. Talented children who are interested in chess can enroll at a specialised school. The city provides many opportunities for those who want to become skilled chess players.

Young city residents between 6 and 12 years old can now learn what sports they might excel at after passing a comprehensive test to evaluate their abilities and professionalism at specialised centres that have opened under the Helping Parents project.

Where can one learn to play chess?

The Department of Physical Fitness and Sport offers chess training programmes at six schools under its auspices:

-         Orienta Olympic Reserve School No. 54 (37B Federativny Prospekt);

-         Bitsa Sport School, formerly Sport School No. 58 (2Sirenevy Boulevard, Bldg.1A);

-         Anatoly Karpov Chess School (1 Khoroshovskoye Motorway);

-         Yunost Moskvy (Moscow Youth) Physical Fitness & Sport Society (11 Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street, Bldg. 2);

-         Krylatskoye Sport Training Centre (15A Okruzhnoi Proyezd);

-         Olympic Reserve School No. 25 (28 Vyatskaya Street).

The Department of Education also oversees various chess player training programmes, with its chess clubs at many houses of children’s and young people’s creativity. One club is called the Mikhail Botvinnik Chess School at the Moscow Palace of Young Pioneers on Vorobyovy Gory (17 Kosygina Street).

The Department of Physical Fitness and Sport runs chess clubs at its offices in every administrative area; and the city also has many private clubs.

The Dvorets (Palace) chess school in Moscow

Grand masters in training

The above schools, affiliated with the Department of Physical Fitness and Sport, have about 1,600 students and 40 coaches. In 2015 alone, they trained over 800 professional chess players, including 15 candidate masters of sport and four masters of sport.

The Anatoly Karpov Chess School that was founded in 2003 boasts the most impressive potential and has relocated several times since its inception. First, it was at Russian State Social University. In 2015, Moscow’s Department of Property responded to a request from the Department of Physical Fitness and Sport and housed the school at 1 Khoroshovskoye Motorway (Northern Administrative Area) .

The school was renovated under the Moscow Sport programme and received new furniture and sport equipment. Its 360-square metre building has six classrooms for studies and competitions, administrative offices and service centres. Its coaches and students use traditional teaching aids, as well as modern technologies, including interactive white-boards.

Currently, the Anatoly Karpov Chess School employs ten full-time coaches that train over 300 chess players at different levels, including primary and top-class. In 2015, nine of them achieved first category, two became candidate masters of sport and one received the master of sport title.

Outstanding victories by city residents

Moscow residents’ many victories at Russian and national tournaments prove their high professionalism. They account for over one-third of Russian national team members and regularly score impressive victories. In March 2016, grand master Sergei Karyakin won the contenders’ tournament and scored one of the most outstanding victories. In November, Mr Karyakin is set to square accounts with the current world champion Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen.

In September 2016, the five-strong Russian men’s team, including four Moscow residents, won third place at the World Chess Olympiad in Baku. In October 2016, Moscow’s men and women’s teams won gold and silver, respectively, at the Russian fast chess championship.

In 2015, Alexander Grishchyuk became world blitz chess champion, with Yan Nepomnyashchy placing second during the world rapid chess championship. Moscow’s Ivan Popov won the same title during the European championship, with Ernesto Inarkiyev winning a classic chess tournament.

Moscow’s young chess players also have every reason to be proud. Khanty-Mansiisk hosted the 2016 World Youth Chess Championship for young people aged 14, 16 and 18 years, with Moscow residents winning four out of seven medals. Semyon Lomasov from the Yunost Moskvy (Moscow Youth) Physical Fitness & Sport Society won the world title among children under 14 years.

The Moscow City Physical Fitness & Sport Association of the Department of Physical Fitness & Sport

Chess festivals

Chess has become extremely popular in the city and has spilled out into the streets. Amateurs and professionals compete with one another during sport and other festivals. People can also take part in contests, quizzes and other chess-related events. 

International Chess Day, marked every 20 July, turns Moscow into a chess city, with black and white figures standing on squares and at local schools and universities. Another tradition is human chess, with students usually playing the part of the chess pieces.

The city puts on the Chess Boulevard project, organised by the Physical Fitness and Sport Centre in the city’s Central Administrative Area and the Petrosyan Chess Club, from May through September. On weekends and holidays, the Boulevard Ring hosts qualifiers, with chess finals taking place on City Day. Project participants meet and compete with famous grand masters and gain insight into the latest technology, including computer software, chess robots and other innovations.

The city hosts the traditional Moscow Open International Festival during winter student holidays. The Russian State Social University hosts eight tournaments, including competitions between students and amateurs, as well as Russian Cup legs, with the support of the Department of Physical Fitness and Sport and the Moscow Chess Federation. The 2016 festival involved over 1,700 participants.

Many local sport events also feature chess competitions. Children and teenagers under 18 years compete during the Moscow Courtyard/Sport Courtyard Spartakiad. Adults between 18 and 60 compete at Sport for All sites. Chess is also included in the Working People’s Spartakiad programme. From 2017, the Retired People’s Spartakiad will also offer chess tournaments. 

Source: mos,ru