Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

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David Robertson

Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by David Robertson » Fri Mar 18, 2016 12:04 pm

Or as well as this

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MJMcCready
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by MJMcCready » Fri Mar 18, 2016 12:05 pm

lol, doubt whether it could be much worse. That was canned laughter in the background I take it?

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Gavin Strachan
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by Gavin Strachan » Fri Mar 18, 2016 12:59 pm

the fact chess has coverage in a newspaper that has a big audience and in whatever context is good for the game. Sports that struggle to attract an audience struggle to survive. Thanks for highlighting this Jon.

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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Fri Mar 18, 2016 3:36 pm

No problem Gavin. It seems to me that, if nothing else, it should be well known that we have an ardent chess supporter in the editor of the Independent and that he is actually prepared to write about the game and promote it.

I guess that some of the less positive remarks here are due to the fact that we have discussed compulsory chess in schools before and that the article does not address many of the various issues arising from that. It might be said in reply that no newspaper article could possibly do that, and that prompting a debate is all that can be expected.

However, it is not so clear to me that the author is advocating mandatory chess lessons for everyone. I thought he was saying that if more hours need to be filled and teachers are too tired to teach, let the children play chess to fill some of the hours (Osborne didn't actually specify what the extra hours should be used for, did he?). Ideally other options would be open to other pupils, who might not be suited to playing chess and/or might be disruptive. But who can argue with chess being a cheap and constructive way to pass some time?

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JustinHorton
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Mar 18, 2016 3:48 pm

Jonathan Rogers wrote: I guess that some of the less positive remarks here are due to the fact that we have discussed compulsory chess in schools before and that the article does not address many of the various issues arising from that.
In my case at least, it was the rote-learning-of-Renaissance-poetry stupidity. I'd love to see Mr Rajan try that with 3 set 5: the lucky teacher he replaces could do a job swap and spend the time writing will-this-do articles for the Standard.

(Sorry if I seem humorless about this, but really this is not a good week where my patience with crankery in education is concerned.)
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Andrew Murray-Watson
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by Andrew Murray-Watson » Sat Mar 19, 2016 11:01 am

I watched Brooklyn Castle a few years back and clearly chess had a wonderful impact on the kids of that school.

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Michael Mkpadi
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by Michael Mkpadi » Sat Mar 19, 2016 11:06 am

Andrew Murray-Watson wrote:I watched Brooklyn Castle a few years back and clearly chess had a wonderful impact on the kids of that school.
Yes Andrew it had. I found it astounding that Brooklyn Castle was largely ignored by chess fans and the mainstream press. I don't really know why.
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Andrew Murray-Watson
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by Andrew Murray-Watson » Sat Mar 19, 2016 11:32 am

Michael Mkpadi wrote:
Andrew Murray-Watson wrote:I watched Brooklyn Castle a few years back and clearly chess had a wonderful impact on the kids of that school.
Yes Andrew it had. I found it astounding that Brooklyn Castle was largely ignored by chess fans and the mainstream press. I don't really know why.
Strange isn't it? If it worked in a school in Brooklyn, no reason why a similar approach wouldn't work in the UK.

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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by NickFaulks » Sat Mar 19, 2016 11:42 am

Andrew Murray-Watson wrote:I watched Brooklyn Castle a few years back and clearly chess had a wonderful impact on the kids of that school.
More years ago, I brought Maurice Ashley to Bermuda to talk to the Education Minister about the demonstrated benefits of chess in schools, quoting the Brooklyn experience. His response was "yes, but it mustn't interfere with their education". I made the faux pas of asking what education would that be, they leave at age 17 and can't read, and the idea did not progress.
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Andrew Murray-Watson
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by Andrew Murray-Watson » Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:50 pm

NickFaulks wrote:
Andrew Murray-Watson wrote:I watched Brooklyn Castle a few years back and clearly chess had a wonderful impact on the kids of that school.
More years ago, I brought Maurice Ashley to Bermuda to talk to the Education Minister about the demonstrated benefits of chess in schools, quoting the Brooklyn experience. His response was "yes, but it mustn't interfere with their education". I made the faux pas of asking what education would that be, they leave at age 17 and can't read, and the idea did not progress.
Nick, you are not in the diplomatic service are you?!

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MJMcCready
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by MJMcCready » Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:20 pm

lol, suspect not.

Neill Cooper
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Re: Amol Rajan article in Evening Standard

Post by Neill Cooper » Sun Mar 20, 2016 9:38 pm

There were two positive things about this article:
1) As Gavin pointed out, chess had coverage in a newspaper that has a big audience
2) That if the government does fund after school activities then some of it could be chess. Some state schools do have struggling chess clubs and this could help them.
Lets look at the positive not the negative. In this case I write as the ECF Manager of School Chess

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