Loren lauds Torre's, DepEd's
chess-in-school initiative

Senator Loren Legarda cited today efforts being exerted by grandmasters Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzalez in helping the Department of Education (DepEd) include chess into the curriculum of all public schools.

"The Philippines has produced a lot of grandmasters, international and national masters in chess, a game which is said to help in the mental development of children," said Loren.

"Thus, I think this initiative is laudable as long as it is carried in moderation and not at the expense of other academic fields," she pointed out.

The Philippines thus far has 11 GMs, namely, Torre, the late Rosendo Balinas, Rogelio Antonio Jr., Buenaventura Villamayor, Nelson Mariano Jr., Mark Paragua, Wesley So, Darwin Laylo, Jayson Gonzalez, John Paul Gomez and Joseph Sanchez.

Early this year, Torre, Asia's first grandmaster, had demonstrated how the sport is played in a school in Marikina, the first city to adopt chess in the curriculum of its public schools.

DepEd had already instructed public schools to include chess in their curriculum.

Torre had expressed belief that playing chess could hone the minds of the youth to become future entrepreneurs.

"The Philippines has a potential in the international stage. Look at the top ranked teams in chess; they are all first world countries," Torre was quoted as saying.

"We believe that we can train future entrepreneurs if the youth learns to play chess."

Nonetheless, Loren called on DepEd to conduct a study on the correlation between mental development and the promotion of mental games like chess.

"The subject should interest academicians and those who prepare the syllabuses in our schools," she said.