GM Gukesh is crowned the 18th World Chess Champion after winning the 14-game match on 12 December, 2024 against the defending World Chess Champion GM Ding Liren.  Winning this prestigious title was an outstanding accomplishment for this 18 year old chess champion!

The chess world looks forward to following GM Gukesh during his 2025 tournaments and matches.

See link to FIDE website - Gukesh D - 18th World Chess Champion

We are organising taster chess classes!

These classes are perfect for beginners to introduce them to the world of chess.  Beginners will learn the basic rules and piece movements to get them started on their chess journey.
Chess is not just a game but also a tool to improve concentration, mental calculation, and problem-solving skills.  
Whether you or your child is curious about chess or you're looking to introduce them to a new hobby, this taster class is the perfect opportunity to spark their interest in this timeless game.

To be added to the list send an email request to [email protected] before 1st October, 2024.

Teaching children how to play chess offers significant benefits, particularly in enhancing their critical thinking skills. Chess is a game that requires players to analyze situations, consider various outcomes, and make strategic decisions. When children engage in playing chess, they learn to anticipate their opponent’s moves, evaluate different possibilities, and weigh the consequences of each decision. This process developes critical thinking skills.

As children practice chess, they develop the ability to think several steps ahead. This forward-thinking approach is crucial in real-life situations, where they must assess potential outcomes before making decisions. 

Moreover, chess teaches patience and discipline. Children learn that thoughtful, deliberate actions often yield better results than rushed decisions. These skills can be transferable to academic settings and everyday life, where critical thinking is essential for making informed choices.

In summary, playing chess helps children enhance their critical thinking abilities by encouraging strategic analysis, foresight, and disciplined decision-making, all of which are invaluable skills both on and off the chessboard.

(Initial research conducted by ChatGPT)

​Many parents with school age children are aware of the dreaded 'summer slide'.

​‘Summer slide’ refers to children’s loss of academic skills/knowledge between finishing their end of term in June/July and returning to school in August/September.
 
It is believed that during their summer vacation, children can lose a significant amount of what they have learnt the previous school year.  This results in both teachers and students spending additional time revising/catching up at the beginning of the next school year. 
​
There are many steps that parents can take to mitigate summer slide.  For example, engaging students in activities to learn new skills, and improve their concentration and focus.  Such an activity is Chess.  Chess is an ideal activity for children to develop and/or maintain learning skills like mental calculation, concentration, critical and analytical thinking,  Furthermore, learning chess allows students to learn and build a new vocabulary.

If you have any questions about summer chess classes then let us know. 

​Nimble Minds Chess extends many congratulations to Matteo Davies who among other things is a chess student of Nimble Minds.

Yesterday 30 April, 2023, GM Ding Liren won the World Chess Championship during the tie -break against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.

The tiebreak consisted of four rapid games, with a time control of 25 minutes each, plus a 10-second increment per move.  Blitz games were to follow, if the winner was undecided after the rapid.  

GM Ding Liren was quoted by FIDE website as stating the following after his match:

"I started to learn chess from four years old… I spent 26 years playing, analyzing, trying to improve my chess ability with many different ways, with different changing methods. with many new ways of training." He continues: "I think I did everything. Sometimes I thought I was addicted to chess, because sometimes without tournaments, I was not so happy. Sometimes I struggled to find other hobbies to make me happy. This match reflects the deepness of my soul," said the new World Champion.

A full summary by FIDE of the games played can be found here - tiebreak games