A labour of love chess club is teaching kids in disadvantaged communities that the sky’s the limit.
It is about 3pm in a grade four classroom in Impendulo Primary School in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, and more than a dozen children are focused on one thing: their next move.Sidwell Mayekiso , founder of the 2 Knights Chess Club, sits in the corner watching the games and coaching the players.
Mayekiso left the Eastern Cape for Cape Town in search of work in 2016, and that’s when he started working with Impendulo. “I went to the principal and asked her if I could teach these kids how to play chess. I felt that I’m getting old and I wanted to pass the knowledge of chess to these young ones. She was so excited, but she also asked if kids from other schools could join the programme.”
“I spoke to my wife to ask if I could sacrifice my [disability] grant to help these kids go to those tournaments. She agreed. It’s not an easy thing because I don’t have money and the transport was quite expensive.” Ngcume adds that the pupils who are part of the chess academy have improved academically. “There are those children who are brilliant in maths. Those kids are now far ahead. Chess uses the critical thinking of the child. They are excellent in chess and they are doing well in the classroom. Chess activates their thinking.”
“That is a good thing. He is a great coach because even though we don’t always win, he pushes us and that is good. The more he pushes us the more we do better. He’s always encouraging us. What I like about chess players is that they won’t be negative, they will uplift everybody. It’s a good social system that we have,” says Liyabona.