Fun, mind exercise at chess academy

I am a nine-year-old girl and I go to St Benedict's Chess Academy, Kirkop, to learn how to play chess, a game that people of all ages can play.

I enjoy learning chess - it's lots of fun and I exercise my mind to think and find new ways to checkmate the opponent's king. As the academy motto goes... Chess makes you smarter.

Lessons are held at the academy every week during the scholastic year and we learn different tactics and rules so that we can play the game correctly.

Our teacher also discusses with us famous games that Grand Masters and chess champions such as Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Emanuel Lasker, Boris Spassky and Vladimir Kramnik had once played.

The academy organises lots of activities like tournaments and simultaneous (one player playing against different players at the same time) matches. We have fun playing against each other and sometimes play against our teachers. At the academy I also meet old friends and make new ones.