The Ministry of Education will consider the possibility of teaching chess in kindergartens from the age of 5. The issue was discussed by Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and the president of the International Chess Federation Kirsan Iliumzhinov, who came to Chisinau to take part in the 17th International Chess Festival “V. Chebatenko”, IPN has learned from the Government’s press service.

Iurie Leanca related that he played chess with his father and competed in different contests. The two officials agreed to organize an international chess tournament or Olympiad in Chisinau by the end of this year.

Kirsan Iliumzhinov said a British survey revealed that over 600 million people play chess worldwide, but the goal is to raise this figure to 1 billion. Ten years ago, they didn’t play chess in Turkey. But chess was included in the school programs and now almost 4 million children there play it. “This type of sport reduces crime as the children are always involved in this mind game,” he stated.

In Moldova, chess is played in about 200 schools. Within the project “Chess Unites”, 20 school teachers from both banks of the Nistru River were trained in chess. A number of classrooms were outfitted with chess sets and teaching aids so that the chess classes are taught in the best conditions.