UTRGV teaching children through chess

BROWNSVILLE — School may be over for the summer, but that doesn’t mean your child can’t improve those critical thinking skills with a game of chess.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Chess Club is hosting weekly chess sessions this month for children 6 to 16.

Sessions will be held Monday through Friday from 4:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. at UTRGV’s Brownsville Campus in the Main Building, Room 2.502. All-day and half-day sessions will also be held at the Edinburg Campus.

“We are mainly doing this as a fundraiser to help the community (learn about chess), and we (will use the funds raised to pay for) travel to competitions as well,” Chess Club president David Ortiz said.

“This year we’re trying to raise funds to go to Ohio to the Pan American Chess Collegiate Tournament. We don’t get funds from the university, everything we do has to get fundraised through our own student organization.”

Chess is more than just a game, Ortiz said.

“What you can learn from chess (is) there’s a lot of life skills that kids will learn,” Ortiz said. “First and foremost is humility. You’re going to win a lot of games, you’re going to lose a lot of games and then it just teaches you how to cope with those wins and loses.”

Another things Ortiz said kids can learn from chess is time management.

“A lot of chess competitions use a chess clock and so you only have a set amount of time to make your move,” Ortiz said. “Sometimes, you may only have 30 minutes, and every time you hit the clock, your time starts running down so you kind of have to prioritize.”

Half-day sessions will cost $80 and a full-day session will cost $150. To register for the sessions, visit www.utrgvchess.com.