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Belize National Youth Chess Foundation As a Not-for-Profit organization, we are dedicated to promoting chess among the youth of Belize. We will use chess as an educational and motivational tool for the purpose of stimulating their interest in an intellectual activity that will enhance their academic and social skills, while making learning fun and providing an environment that will keep them off the streets. With your help and through our chess instruction program, children will embrace the importance of studying and learning new strategies, concentration, discipline, perseverance, focusing on the final goal, accepting consequences for making mistakes and learning from them in a positive environment, instead of being discouraged in life and turning to the streets. Our chess instruction will help children develop:
Through chess tournaments, our program will teach children sportsmanship skills, team spirit, empathetic attitudes towards other players, anger and behavior management, thinking and making decisions under pressure. Since chess tournaments involve clocks to limit the time each player can use, it teaches them to think and make accurate decisions under time pressure - a skill they will need for taking school tests and exams. So, let’s look at the reality of life in Belize. How many nourishing after school programs for children that make them think, wonder, and develop curiosity are there? There are some, Yes, but definitely not enough. We have a large population of single parent households with many children in the family who are not getting adequate attention from adults, and who have nothing to occupy themselves with after the school day is over. Where does it lead them? To the same thing as everywhere else in the world: children who are not engaged in any meaningful activities have a tendency to find themselves on the streets and get themselves into trouble, simply because they are bored. It must concern all of us, because every single child that we miss to give an opportunity to develop into a successful citizen has a great potential to turn into a criminal. We must get the kids off the street It is a fact that youth who have inadequate parental supervision, inadequate role models and a lack of activities to keep their minds and bodies occupied, inadequate means to create high self esteem and most importantly, inadequate "attention".. these youth will search to obtain for all those missing components in their lives, in any way they can. This most often leads them to the streets and to gang involvement. Gang life DOES PROVIDE all the components that our youth are being denied by our society. This chess program will offer them the environment where they will find attention, where they can grow their self-esteem, learn to be excited about learning and feel proud of their own accomplishments. Running tournaments on the weekend will give them a meaningful activity, which they will be looking forward too because it is competitive and because it is fun! They will start spending their weekend concentrating over the board and stimulating more and more brain mass, instead of turning into more and more slow minded, low functioning teenagers. Through this program, The Belize National Youth Chess Foundation, it is our desire to create a program which will entice and encourage the youth of Belize to participate in a program that will not only be fun, but will be challenging as well, and by active participation, the child has the opportunity to do something that they would feel good about. Self-esteem rises with accomplishment. As the result of proper teaching, chess will be the upward spiral of accomplishment leading to confidence, leading to optimism, leading to more accomplishments, and thus greater confidence and even more optimism. Through the special teaching techniques, it is not only chess that will be taught, but the children will learn life skills that will last them well into adulthood. If you are interested becoming a sponsor or this youth program, please do not hesitate to contact us. We thank you for your interest, Ian and Ella Anderson For more information on how you can assist in sponsoring this program, please write to belizechess@cavesbranch.com We also invite you to find out more about our chess foundation by viewing the following sites:
What are the benefits of Chess? Chess is a game for people of all ages. You can learn to play at any age and in chess, unlike in many other sports, you don’t ever have to retire. Age is also not a factor when you’re looking for an opponent—young can play old and old can play young. Chess develops memory. The chess theory is complicated and many players memorize different opening variations. You will also learn to recognize various patterns and remember lengthy variations. Chess improves concentration. During the game you are focused on only one main goal—to checkmate and become the victor. Chess develops logical thinking. Chess requires some understanding of logical strategy. For example, you will know that it is important to bring your pieces out into the game at the beginning, to keep your king safe at all times, not to make big weaknesses in your position and not to blunder your pieces away for free, although you will find yourself doing that occasionally through your chess career. Mistakes are inevitable and chess, like life, is a never-ending learning process. Chess promotes imagination and creativity. It encourages you to be inventive. There are an indefinite amount of beautiful combinations yet to be constructed. Chess teaches independence. You are forced to make important decisions influenced only by your own judgment. Chess develops the capability to predict and foresee consequences of actions. It teaches you to look both ways before crossing the street. Chess inspires self-motivation. It encourages the search of the best move, the best plan, and the most beautiful continuation out of the endless possibilities. It encourages the everlasting aim towards progress, always steering to ignite the flame of victory. Chess shows that success rewards hard work. The more you practice, the better you’ll become. You should be ready to lose and learn from your mistakes. One of the greatest players ever, Capablanca said, “You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win. You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player.” Chess and Science. Chess develops the scientific way of thinking. While playing, you generate numerous variations in your mind. You explore new ideas, try to predict their outcomes and interpret surprising revelations. You decide on a hypothesis, and then you make your move and test it. Chess and Technology. What do chess players do during the game? Just like computers they engage in a search for the better move in a limited amount of time. What are you doing right now? You are using a computer as a tool for learning. Chess and Mathematics. You don’t have to be a genius to figure this one out. Chess involves an infinite number of calculations, anything from counting the number of attackers and defenders in the event of a simple exchange to calculating lengthy continuations. And you use your head to calculate, not some little machine. Chess and Research. There are millions of chess resources out there for every aspect of the game. You can even collect your own chess library. In life, is it important to know how to find, organize and use boundless amounts of information. Chess gives you a perfect example and opportunity to do just that. Chess and Art. In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia chess is defined as “an art appearing in the form of a game.” If you thought you could never be an artist, chess proves you wrong. Chess enables the artist hiding within you to come out. Your imagination will run wild with endless possibilities on the sixty-four squares. You will paint pictures in your mind of ideal positions and perfect outposts for your soldiers. As a chess artist you will have an original style and personality. Chess and Psychology. Chess is a test of patience, nerves, will power and concentration. It enhances your ability to interact with other people. It tests your sportsmanship in a competitive environment. Chess improves schoolwork and grades. Numerous studies have proven that kids obtain a higher reading level, math level and a greater learning ability overall as a result of playing chess. For all those reasons mentioned above and more, chess playing kids do better at school and therefore have a better chance to succeed in life. Chess opens up the world for you. You don’t need to be a high ranked player to enter big important competitions. Even tournaments such as the US Open and the World Open welcome players of all strengths. Chess provides you with plenty of opportunities to travel not only all around the country of Belize but also around the world. Chess is a universal language and you can communicate with anyone over the checkered plane. Chess enables you to meet many interesting people. You will make life-long friendships with people you meet through chess. CHESS IS FUN! This isn’t just another one of those board games. No chess game ever repeats itself, which means you create more and more new ideas each game. It never gets boring. You always have so much to look forward to. Every game you are the general of an army and you alone decide the destiny of your soldiers. You can sacrifice them, trade them, pin them, fork them, lose them, defend them, or order them to break through any barriers and surround the enemy king. You’ve got the power!
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| Caves Branch Adventure Co. & Jungle Lodge Mile 41 1/2 Hummingbird Hwy., P.O. Box 356. Belmopan, Belize, Central America Jungle Lodge (via Radio Phone): 011-501-822-2800 Fax: 1-888-265-4579 E-Mail: info@cavesbranch.com
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