National chess coach takes on prep and senior girls

On Monday 13th November, pupils at both Senior and Prep schools were lucky enough to spend some time with the England Women’s Chess Coach, Lorin D’Costa.

He told the pupils about his first ever chess game (he lost in four moves!) and, more importantly, how he’d learnt from the experience and grown as a result.

He then played a simultaneous match against nine Prep School players (ranging from year 1 to year 6) and gave them tips on their games as they played. The girls really enjoyed the challenge and learning about new possible plays. This is great preparation for the chess tournaments that some of them will be taking part in over the coming months.

After taking on the chess players at the Prep School, Mr D’Costa headed over to the Senior School where he took on another seven pupil opponents from U4-U6. He also gave a short talk about She Plays to Win, a national initiative aimed at getting more girls involved in chess.