Check it out mate

And now for something completely different, as Monty Python would say. This weekend for yours truly was dominated by neither soccer, cricket, rugby nor any of the other mainstream fair that forms such a substantial part of my sporting diet.

Sure I watched the Super Rugby qualifiers, the Euro under-21 soccer and the England cricket. But the most rewarding part of my weekend was spent at Emperor’s Palace near Jo’burg Airport where my eight-year-old daughter spent Saturday afternoon shuffling chess pieces around.

I taught her the rudiments of chess about three months ago, and to say she has taken it up with gusto is as big an understatement as saying Barcelona are quite good at passing a football. She now beats me more often than not (though I was never in any danger of being mistaken for Garry Kasparov, you understand), and her every waking moment appears to be spent seeking out a game with whoever is willing.

As a parent, one of the more satisfying things is watching your child develop an abiding interest in something you know is worthwhile. Most of the time, extra-mural activities are chosen in the manner of spearing darts at a board - you have a go at everything and hope that something will stick. With my eldest, that game seems to be chess, and I couldn’t be happier. The game appears to be such a fantastic device for learning vital life skills such as concentration, discipline, focus, patience, lateral thinking and mathematical problem solving.

So we went to Emperor’s Palace where the South African and Commonwealth chess championship got under way last weekend and continues through this week. It was the first time I have ever attended such an event, and we arrived not knowing what to expect. What we found was rows upon rows of keenly contested games in a hushed convention hall with small knots of people gathered in chin-stroking contemplation around the big names, as they sized up moves.

Outside, the halls thronged with people in animated discussion about all things chess. It was great to see a development tournament on the go, supported by SuperSport’s superb Let’s Play initiative and other sponsors such as King Pie. These are sponsors that are perhaps even more deserving of publicity than those companies that plough money into mainstream sport, where the coverage is a shoo-in. To see 500 or so children from townships hunched in fierce concentration over their boards was hugely inspiring.

I was amazed at the innovative range of online chess-related educational programmes on display. Such as ‘Moves for Life’, which teaches life skills through chess. President Zuma himself is a keen follower of the game and patron of ‘Move for Life’. I love this quote from The Pres: “No amount of video games can teach a child the same level of patience, strategic thinking, concentration, analytical skills and attention to detail they gain from this timeless intellectual game.”

I couldn’t agree more. From my observations over the past couple of months, my daughter’s maths skills have sharpened noticeably.

My eight-year-old managed to grab a game at the oversized board outside the main convention room. She played four games against much older opponents and easily held her own, though what I remember most is her shining-eyed enthusiasm as she stalked the board heaving pieces around.

The championship at Emperor’s Palace features a number of Grand Masters, including famous Brit Nigel Short, as well as South Africa’s top player Watu Kobese. Anyone with any atom of interest in the game should head on down.

It was a fascinating afternoon and one of the most rewarding father-daughter experiences I have yet enjoyed. All thanks to this timeless intellectual game which up until now has been a negligible part of my life.