Why every child needs to be an expert in fair play

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.

“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,... Read More The post Why chess isn’t just for kids appeared first on Chess Mates.

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... Read More The post Going for Gold – Sponsors at the Junction Park State School Fete appeared first on Chess Mates.

This week our amazing Sunshine Coast teacher, Amanda Marshall, posted about the unsung heroes that we interact with every day at Chess Mates. “Shout out to all the parents who struggled to get up this morning, but did it anyway, whether to keep your family safe, or to put a roof over your head and... Read More The post Our unsung heroes – amazing parents! appeared first on Chess Mates.

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... Read More The post Chess Mates is now a NDIS Registered Provider appeared first on Chess Mates.

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... Read More The post Come and try chess for free on the Sunshine Coast appeared first on Chess Mates.

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,... Read More The post The Tortilla Tutor: Cooking with the Kids appeared first on Chess Mates.

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... Read More The post National Children and Pets Day… Sort of appeared first on Chess Mates.