In the growing stage, all children are not naturally inclined at the same skill; some are more athletic and have better coordination. Some pick up on language and words faster at a young age, while others are good with numbers and visualizing patterns. At Atmiya Vidya Mandir a child’s natural inclination is identified, tapped and nurtured through ample opportunities. Besides cultural events, extra-curricular activities are designed to nurture multiple dimensions of students’ holistic development. Whether it is Bodily-Kinaesthetic intelligence, Musical intelligence, Linguistic intelligence or Spatial intelligence, students find plenty of opportunities to chase their interests. Recently, an Inter House Chess Competition was organised to enhance Spatial intelligence among students, while also honing their logical thinking ability.
The fixtures for all rounds of the competition were posted in advance. On the day, the hall was soon flooded with players and their respective house members. The competition started with Sub-Junior group wherein the participants of Suhradam and Satyam houses along with Sundaram with Shivam houses racked their brains to keep the game in their favour.
Likewise, in the Junior group, one table had the opponents of Satyam House and Shivam House and on the other side, another board was set up for the players of Suhradam House and Sundaram House. As the Suhradam House participant tried to trade off pieces, the Sundaram House player took it to his advantage. With some calculative moves and strategic turns the game entered into the final phase.
In the Senior group, it was a distinctly different round and contest between Shivam House and Satyam House. Both the players were cautiously picking on their chance to keep it interesting till the end. Making it an exciting game of wits, on the other hand, participants of Sundaram House and Suhradam House were equally challenged to exercise their logic and pattern recognition to make appropriate decisions to move their blocks.
As the “Checkmate” got declared and the game was over; the scoreboard flashed the points earned by both the teams. Sundaram House emerged victorious with 28 points, right behind them was the Suhradam House with 22 points. Shivam House secured third place with 18 points and Satyam House was placed 4th with 16 points.
Whether winning or losing, the participants definitely developed their logical thinking as chess offers children the opportunity to gain insights into making a better strategy to make their move, thus all the players found this competition an enjoyable endeavour.
Seema Ma’am
