Chess Mates

The Difference Between Healthy and Unhealthy Competition

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 03:11:13 GMT

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T he current Chess World Champion (the highest honour a chess player can achieve), Magnus Carlsen said “One of the things that first motivated me to take up chess as a child was the desire to beat my elder sister” in an interview with The Telegraph.

We all know that competition can get heated, whether its board games with our family, playground games with our friends in primary school, or promotions at work during our career progression. Competition can be healthy for our minds as it can provide challenge and problem solving opportunities. However, when does healthy competition turn unhealthy?

Healthy

Healthy competition tends to occur when the competition itself is not about the end result of winning, but gaining other things such as learning more about the subject under consideration, for example, the game of chess.

Maybe beating a personal best, using a technique successfully that has often failed, or bettering yourself in some other way. Understanding some information from a different perspective that you have not been able to outside of competition.

Finally, healthy competition should be about the journey, not the end destination. This journey should not be a frustrating struggle that you derive no joy from and if it ends in a loss, should not be counted as an overall loss but something more to learn from.

Unhealthy

This healthy competition can turn unhealthy for a number of reasons but it is important to know the signs in case you feel yourself or see someone you know slipping into it so you can prevent it. After all, unhealthy competition does not result in anything worthwhile or long-lasting such as knowledge or a way to grow.

Competition begins to be unhealthy when one becomes fearful of not winning, losing should never be something to fear as it only provides more opportunity to grow. When it becomes about getting validation from other people, just like anything in life, it turns unhealthy as the competition should only be for the enjoyment of you and your opponent.

When you feel you must win purely to beat someone else and make them feel worse, this is a big sign of unhealthy competition and should not be entered into as it will not result in anything positive and will make a bad situation even worse.

The joy should come from playing the game and enjoying each others company.

Why every child needs to be an expert in fair play

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 10:05:00 GMT

Every good parent wants what is best for their children. Regardless of our exact hopes and dreams for our children, we all wish that they’ll grow up to be happy individuals, living in security, surrounded by a strong support system of friends and family. But these simple wishes don’t always come easy, with parents working hard to ensure that their children have the best shot at success later in life.

To prepare our children for the real world, a bit of tough love can be necessary. Being lenient and fun – sadly – isn’t always the answer. To truly be able to succeed as an adult, children need to have a solid understanding of how to follow rules and, perhaps most importantly, how to treat others with respect.

Teaching these skills can fortunately be lots of fun! At Chess Mates, we use chess as a tool to help children build these emotional qualities.

When playing chess, it’s important that everyone acts courteously. Sometimes, children struggle to be patient and polite when waiting for their opponent to think and make their move. As they come back week after week, they learn their own coping strategies – whether that’s watching a game beside them or starting to plan their own next move – and learn that polite games are the most fun games!

Sometimes, children are also tempted to cheat: moving a pawn an extra square or knocking a piece over and “forgetting” where it was before… In these circumstances, punishment isn’t always the answer. Instead, why not discuss the ethics of cheating, how it makes games less fun, and why winning isn’t important enough to sacrifice our honesty and integrity? Eventually, children build more resilience when it comes to losing, and realise that in the end, chess is just a game!

Obviously, there are other ways to teach your child how to play fairly and respect rules and other people, but at Chess Mates, we think that chess is definitely the most fun way to do it! In the long term, we believe that children who master these simple skills will be better placed to build strong, respectful relationships and see success in any endeavours they set their mind to.

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Why chess isn’t just for kids

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 23:47:00 GMT

“Playing” is (without a doubt) a notion that we associate with children. However, the benefits of continuing to “play” as an adult or elderly person are recognised far and wide.

Whilst we may stop playing with toy cars or baby dolls as we get older, many adults still enjoy playing games: video games, board games, card games… you name it!

Chess, in particular, is an excellent game to play as an adult, but it does have a bit of an undeserved negative reputation. Lots of people think of chess as overly competitive, too difficult or downright boring. At the end of the day, however, you just need to remember that chess is only a game!

Whether you win or lose, playing a game of chess gives you the opportunity to connect and socialise with an opponent – something we’re no longer taking for granted after a rather isolated 2020.

Playing chess gives our brains a valuable opportunity to practice planning, analysis, and problem-solving, thus helping to build the brain’s cognitive reserves. Chess also helps the brain to develop dendrites: the tree-like structures in the brain that help neurons communicate more effectively with each other. When you engage in an activity that elicits mental activity, like chess or crossword puzzles, your brain develops more dendrites. The more dendrites in the brain, the better and more efficiently it works.

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Going for Gold – Sponsors at the Junction Park State School Fete

Fri, 03 May 2019 01:36:00 GMT

Fetes are such a wonderful part of school communities and such an exciting part of the year. At Chess Mates we try to participate as much as we can in the lives and communities of our schools and we deeply care about doing what we can for the people we interact with every day. Not only this, but it offers us the opportunity to build networks and close contacts, creating our very own Chess Mates community that we can support and provide for throughout the rest of the year. We care so deeply about Chess Mates message, and breaking the stigma of chess being only competitive. Fetes are just one way we can go about spreading this message.

Junction Park State School is a school community we’ve always wanted to part of. It is such a vibrant community and one that our director Ash knows well. Thanks to the relationships Chess Mates has built, and to the lovely Donna Nicholson, we were invited to Junction Park State School’s Fete this Sunday.

Knowing how vibrant and important this community is, we decided we would go for Gold. As a Gold Sponsor, we feel proud in our support of Junction Park State School and the excellent support they provide to the Annerley area. It is so heart-warming to know that we can help our communities and share Chess Mates with so many at the same time.

So if you want to learn more about Chess Mates, or just play a few fun games of chess, come on down. We look forward to meeting you!

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Our unsung heroes – amazing parents!

Fri, 15 Mar 2019 02:43:00 GMT

This week our amazing Sunshine Coast teacher, Amanda Marshall, posted about the unsung heroes that we interact with every day at Chess Mates.

We wanted to expand on this thought within this blog post so that all parents and guardians know just how deeply we appreciate them.

It is amazing that as a manager at Chess Mates, I am able to encourage, inspire, and listen to students of all ages whether that be 6 or 60, but it is the parents and guardians that these children go home or went home to, that are the real encouragers, inspirations and listeners.

Without our parents and guardians putting a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and love in our hearts as children we could not achieve that which we want. All parents and guardians say ‘you can be whoever you want to be’ to children because you truly believe in the power they have, but it is your love that gives them the inspiration to be who they are. Even though sometimes life can be difficult and exhausting, remember — your child is able to do what they do because of you.

The main goal of Chess Mates is to create an engaging space for children that want to play chess and improve their skills, but through community engagement and parental love, we are also able to teach valuable life skills whether that be emotional resilience, confidence or socialisation. The trust parents and guardians place in us to care for their children and take over even just the smallest part of their development is a responsibility no-one at Chess Mates takes lightly.

Sometimes life and society’s expectations can be too much for any one person, but at Chess Mates we strive to create a community where support is our number one. No matter what, we encourage that our students should aspire to be strong and smart, kind and funny.

But we cannot do that without you. And that’s why we want to acknowledge you all for who you are: HEROES.

– Jessica Ryan

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Chess Mates is now a NDIS Registered Provider

Sun, 17 Feb 2019 08:24:00 GMT

Over the past few months, we’ve been trying to become NDIS compliant and now we have been approved as a registered provider in Queensland! Chess Mates began with the idea of bringing the educational tool of chess to as many people as possible to help everyone think more strategically, become emotionally resilient and to help them create change and the NDIS is an exciting beginning to a new chapter.

We are currently under the Innovative Community Participation umbrella and as such are aiming to help diminish social isolation and improve communication skills which aligns greatly with Chess Mates’ mission of changing outdated views of chess and inspiring the concept that chess is more than just a game and aids all with their development and connection as well as emotional resilience.

A massive thank you to Leah, Jess and Amanda for the hours they put in and their hard work. If your child or someone important to you would like to use chess as a way to further their personal NDIS plan goals, please get in touch at info@chessmates.com.au . We’re excited to begin this new chapter for Chess Mates.

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Come and try chess for free on the Sunshine Coast

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 05:48:00 GMT

Chess is such a great educational tool for your little one to start out with, and we know they’ll love it! Held at Fusion in Buderim!

But we want the mums and dads to be sure too, so that’s why we’re running a free session on the Sunshine Coast. To teach your child how to play chess, the CHESS MATES way. You’re invited to come and try chess and see the results yourself. To sign up, e-mail info@chessmates.com.au

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The Tortilla Tutor: Cooking with the Kids

Fri, 19 May 2017 02:11:00 GMT

Keep kids’ brains, minds and mouths busy with a trip to the kitchen! Give them a head start in good food, give their learning skills a workout, and have some productive fun.

Getting our eating in order is tricky for a range of reasons. It spans an important group of daily challenges: health and nutrition,a household budgets/spending, time and spatial coordination, and that grey area where “hobbies” and “habits” overlap. That’s why it’s a great opportunity, and a big priority, for kids’ growth and learning.

The “Why?”

The benefits of getting involved in the kitchen are many. Whether it’s knowledge that is useful across many areas of life, or more specific skills like those helpful in a game of chess, kids learn best through situations and active involvement.

Cooking is an intense hands-on learning experience which directly introduces young minds to a range of things, encouraging analysis and problem solving, providing entertainment, building family relationships, nourishing bodies, and introducing matters of budgeting and planning.

Safety first!

Take a moment to consider where safety comes into the equation – and it comes in much earlier than the kitchen. Teach and practice at every stage, including:

While toddlers are best suited to tasks like rinsing fresh greens, grabbing (safe) utensils and basic actions like mixing and tidying, pre-schoolers will usually be capable to do things like measuring ingredients and cracking eggs (accepting a few spills here and there!). At school age , kids are fully able to get involved in choosing types and quantities in the shop, selecting the ones needed for a particular meal, measuring and preparing, and either serving up or packing a lunch box.

Recipes

While we’d all like to think we can out-cook our mums, Chess Mates is happy to get some help too. Here are some cooking-with-kids recipes we’ve spied around the web.

Asian Fish Cakes – Recipe here

Mexican Chicken Fajitas – recipe here

Honey-Nut Cheerio Snack Bars – recipe here

Hope you found something worth trying with the kids. Happy cooking!

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National Children and Pets Day… Sort of

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 04:53:00 GMT

It’s a day late, on the opposite side of the globe and in another hemisphere, but happy Children and Pets Day! Just because it’s a US date of minor renown doesn’t mean it can’t be celebrated by us too.

By way of celebration, let’s watch some cats failing to be acceptable photographic subjects.

Our only suggestion here is a lot of blue-tac, but anyway, back to the kids.

The Benefits

According to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, having a pet can help develop such kid’s skills such as:

Children with pets are shown to have “Have higher self esteem, improved social skills, and are more likely to be physically active, and less likely to be overweight or obese”.

Pet ownership, according to research, is also great for family harmony because pet-owning families “Spend a lot more time interacting”, and “Have a basis for fun activities and friendly conversation including the important topics of life.” If this doesn’t sound very convincing, consider what we discussed in our previous post – that kid’s learning is best done through experience. Safe opportunities to see the effects of good and bad behaviour are highly valuable.

The benefits aren’t just for kids – they’re for everyone, in highly important factors: “In comparison with their pet-less counterparts, pet owners:

However, as always, science has a little more to say about it.

The “it’s not that simple” part

It turns out the benefits of pets are strongly tied with the health of the child-to-pet relationship, which is learned from the family as a whole. A study on the parent-child-pet dynamic came to the following conclusions:

So, the take-away here is: A, It’s about time and good relations, and B, bring lots of blue-tac to every kitten-based photo-shoot.

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Potent Parenting: Four points for your thought

Fri, 14 Apr 2017 01:31:00 GMT

Top tips & avoiding tricks

A new term is on its way, bringing a new series of challenges for parents and children alike. Let’s turn to some important thoughts about our kids experiences and development, and how they can get the best out of a difficult situation.

Here’s a list of four things to explore in your approach to parenting.

Sports are not a win-win activity for kids. Despite popular notions, activities like sports are only as valuable as the relationships and self-respect they enable, alongside the physical benefits. That’s why unstructured activities can have just as much merit as highly organised sport.

“Those scoring in the “above-average” creativity bracket reported spending 15% of their total childhood leisure time playing informal sports versus 13% playing organized sports. The participants with “below-average” creativity, on the other hand, spent only 10% of their childhood leisure time playing informal sports versus 22% in organized sports” . (More on that here ).

“ Why do I need to learn maths?” can be a difficult question to answer for anyone, teachers included. The same question arises in any area of learning, and requires the same approach: demonstrate how it is involved in their day-to-day life. In the case of maths (and chess for that matter) we don’t need to look far at all. Planning for the day is a deeply mathematical, strategic exercise. An example might be, “If getting dressed and packing your bag takes half an hour, breakfast takes another half an hour, and getting to school takes twenty minutes, by what time do you have to be out of bed to get to school at 8.20am?”

“ …When travelling, children can look for patterns in car number plates (digits that are consecutive 3, 4, 5 or prime 2, 5, 7 or square 144). They might predict which routes are quickest while using updated data on mobile devices, or determine how much of their favourite TV shows are devoted to advertising .” (More on this here ).

Few parents can claim innocence when it comes to the trick of disguising vegetables behind more gratifying substances. Few should be surprised to find the gratifying substance consumed with gusto, leaving the vegetables neatly abandoned on the plate. Bribes and threats at the table are bound to produce negative results in the long term. Both approaches clearly signify to your child that vegetables are something they should feel resistance towards and they will happily avoid them whenever the incentive isn’t there.

The trick is that there is no trick. Healthy eating starts long before the (important) positive effects are felt. Food preference is established by repeated positive, conscious encounters. Patience and neutrality are vital.

“ Vegetables must be offered frequently, without pressure – and you mustn’t get discouraged by the inevitable “no”. Even if you have missed the first window of opportunity, all is not lost. Parents can lose hope after offering the same vegetables between three and five times, but, in reality, toddlers in particular might need up to 15 exposures . ” ( More on that here ).

Bribes and punishments teach kids to seek rewards and avoid punishments instead of using their judgement. The key is a partnership approach, including:

“ If they are crying, try to listen to them and reassure them we’ve heard they’re upset. After all, they’ve just had their agency compromised by our concern for their safety. You could say something along the lines of, “I hear you have some big feelings about my stopping you from [whatever it was].”… “I hear that you really wanted to see what the hotplate felt like, but I can’t let you touch it as it will burn you.” If they were being rude, you could say, “I know you don’t mean to be hurtful, but saying things like that can make people sad. ” (more on “behavioural parenting” here ).

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Chess Mates featured on Channel 7!

Wed, 27 Jan 2016 02:03:00 GMT

We were very privileged to be featured on Channel 7 News alongside a very special student of ours. Check out the video below now and find out more about the benefits children receive by learning how to play chess at an early age. We have also included a small gallery of photos from the day.

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