We have seen many school activities canceled due to Covid-19, yet in spite of the situation, there is a chess team that is currently training. Mr. Pina, the coach of this great team at our school has agreed to answer the questions for an interview that will bring us closer to this club.
What is your role in our school?
“My roles at school include being the librarian, librarian teacher, and chess teacher, but, this year in addition to my librarian skills, I have been supporting the Spanish and the History classes.”
How many years have you been teaching chess class?
“Well, my experience with chess comes from many years ago, long before The Ashton School, I started with the idea of chess at another school. Afterward, I went to work at St. George’s School where I spent around 6 months there deepening my knowledge of chess. On my first day at The Ashton School 5 years ago, I presented the program to Mr. Pelaez and Mr. Mora and they liked and encourage me to move forward with the idea. Next school year (2020-2021), will be my 6th year teaching chess.”
Are you giving classes during quarantine?
“At the beginning of the quarantine, I made a proposal to the parents to extend our chess time. They instantly agreed that students should meet daily including Saturdays and Sundays. One hour a day we are online, and we play through an application called lichess.org where we have a team for students of all ages.”
How many students do you have right now?
There are 22 members in the group now.
Which days do you give your classes and how often?
Well, every day from 5 to 6 in the afternoon. The classes are from Monday to Sunday. For the past two weeks, students have had other projects that prevented the weekend games.
What kind of exercises do you give your students?
We make thematic openings. Every day something different is done and in this way, the students learned what openness is and the different types of defense that exist and etc.
Do you keep communication with other schools that give chess classes?
Yes, we had a competition with the American School. We won all of the games. We also played against the Iberia School and we also won. We have maintained communication with chess academies. In fact, I just received an invitation to an international online contest, thanks to the results obtained by the kids in other competitions, I also communicated with my regular colleagues from other schools such as New Horizons, The Luis Muñoz Rivera School and others.
Are you planning on or are you currently doing a chess competition for your students and how?
Every day we have meetings where everyone can compete, I also include myself to be part of the challenge and every day everyone has the opportunity to take first, second, and third place. We have been competing every day even with invited students from other graduating classes.
Which challenges have you faced giving classes during quarantine?
Among the challenges I have encountered, one has been to find a friendly platform that is easy for different age students, and that also has enough resources and is affordable or free, to avoid extra costs for families. In this case, we found lichess.org and then manage to motivate students to go online every day to meet at a specific time and not to be late.
Who inspired you to be a chess teacher?
The inspiration I had to be a chess teacher was my own life. When I was very young, I learned to practice chess and it was very useful for me because it allowed me to study and to do any type of work I dedicated myself to. By knowing the benefits chess has, I took advantage of the space in the school library and in this way, I mixed reading with chess and made the library a much more attractive space for students. These were the main reasons.
Author’s take away from this interview
I would take chess classes and follow Mr. Pina’s advice for a better concentration in my future job. Thank you Mr. Pina for making this interview possible and thank you for your time teaching the students during this quarantine.
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