The students of the Pietro Mennea institute, accompanied by the expert Fedele Lagrasta and the chess coordinator Miriam Bizzoca, participated in the national phase of the tournament which took place from 12 to 15 May in Montesilvano (PE).
The Mennea women’s primary category team qualified in second place in the Trophy, winning silver and becoming the women’s team vice champion of Italy in the discipline.
For the team, made up of 6 students from classes IV and V (Cecilia Iodice, Giulia Ceto, Marianna Figliolia, Elisa Seccia, Elena Carretti and Elena Dibenedetto), the last round of the game was decisive, played against IC “Viale Vega “-Rome, the Barletta students prevailed over their opponents with a sensational 3.5-0.5, snatching the title of Italian vice-champions from them. The men’s primary team also achieved a good result, qualifying in eighth position out of 43 participating teams.
The game of chess can represent a resource: precisely in their competitive value, teaching respect for the opponent and acceptance of the result of the match; it is an individual game which, however, can also become, on some occasions, a team game, thus promoting the spirit of solidarity and collaboration, stimulating the individual to take responsibility towards his teammates. Furthermore, chess promotes the development of cognitive skills, such as memory, concentration, attention, prediction ability, spatial ability, the ability to find solutions and solve problems.
These are the reasons that pushed the Headmaster Prof. Gabriella Catacchio to believe in the educational value of the discipline and to promote its planning in the “Pietro Mennea” IC. Congratulations to the extraordinary protagonists of this adventure and to all those who contributed to the realization of this experience.
