Lessons from the Chess Board can last you a lifetime!

At The Hamilton International School we want each of our students to have the opportunity to uncover, understand and nurture their talents. This is why we place an emphasis on providing extra-curricular activities, and also why we encourage our students to get involved in as many of the ISP International Learning opportunities as possible.

Currently, our students are engaged in the ISP Chess tournament, with Anton Bologan as one of the students representing The Hamilton International School in the Semi-Finals. His father is Chess Grandmaster, Victor Bologan, Ph.D., and we were privileged to have him share his thoughts with us on: the sport of Chess, the skills it teaches students and the ISP Chess Tournament.

Grandmaster Mr Bologan, has been playing chess since he was 9, and with almost 40 years of experience in the sport, he has won more than 60 International Chess Tournaments. He has been actively promoting Chess internationally, and specifically within Qatar as the Head Coach of the National Chess Team.

“Chess is a great extra-curricular activity to be involved in, it teaches you skills like creativity, calculation, critical and strategic thinking, patience and how to focus,” said Mr Bologan. “There are many things I personally like about Chess. I like the feeling of winning; I like that I traveled so much while playing; I also like looking for solutions and combinations,” he continued.

When we asked him about his thoughts on the ISP Chess Tournament he said: “It is a good initiative, that is bringing students together. It gives them the ability to develop their competitive skills.

Having played in international tournaments as a student himself, he had this advice for aspiring chess players, and those students at The Hamilton School who are competing in the tournament: “Take the game as a benefit and learning experience. Even if you don’t become a strong player, the skills you learn will serve you for the rest of your life.  It will open many doors, and it will teach you to be thoughtful, balanced and confident when making decisions.”