The Future Leaders of the Island are Playing and Learning with Bocas Chess
Club Academia Bocas Chess is a chess club and a non-profit sport organization, established at the Colegio Multicultural Dr. Andrés Culiolis Bayard school.
The club was established thanks to 25 members of the Bocas community, and a selected board of directors: President Carlos Cabrera , Secretary Joel Sanz, Treasurer Elizabeth Lewis and others along with the Principal Adira Culiolis, with the process completed in 2023, based on the executive decree of the law enacted on January 25th, 2023, which approves chess as an extracurricular and curricular educational subject in Panama’s national education, indicating that it should be taught in physical education and/or academic subjects. During 2023, Bocas Chess received its official endorsement by Pandeportes (Panamanian Institute of Sports) and the Panamanian Federation of Chess.
The strategy used for teaching chess in education consists in integrating the benefits of the practice of this game/art/science, which is the development of creativity and critical thinking of the students.
Bocas Chess has outlined its plan of making chess accessible to everyone and promoting it’s practice in the Bocas del Toro region, mainly in the archipelago.
In 2023, chess was designated as an academic subject at the Multicultural School campus, with methodical content and evaluation not based on performance, but rather on practical knowledge verification. This approach has yielded positive results, and now it is one of the students’ favorite subjects, where they can play and learn. Last year workshops were offered in 9 official educational centers of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago: San Cristóbal, Loma Partida, Tierra Oscura, Cerro Brujo, Quebrada Sal, Popa 1, Popa 2, Isla Tigre y Cayo de Agua. Thanks to the sponsors, donations and volunteers that allowed this to happen. Mentioning mainly Bull’s Playground, Coco Vivo, Loma Partida Aqua Lodge, SFS , Bocas Mariculture and other important donations that we’re given to our organization.
The Bocas Chess Club, accepts volunteers at any moment. Jou, the secretary of the organization and instructor of the club offers the experience of playing, learning and teaching chess while working actively with children at 3 schools in town. The headquarters at Colegio Multicultural, Tangerine Primary School,the Escuela Carenero (Sundays) and the Bocas Town highschool Colegio Rogelio Josue Ibarra (Wednesdays 5 to 6:30pm). Alternatively , the volunteers can participate in other workshops at different islands and or planned events. Bocas Chess headquarters on Google Maps.
The endorsement from Bocas Chess allows us to pursue our mission and compete in national events, and to organize tournaments recognized by the Panamanian Chess Federation. One of Instructor Jou’s beliefs, in addition to the positive contribution to various individuals, who can testify with their testimonies, mainly young people, is that the benefit that playing and learning chess will bring to the community with social interaction, collaboration, formation of civic values with assertive and healthy mentality will produce better leadership in the future of Bocas del Toro.
Chess as a sport is a complex discipline and at the same time it’s fun, it requires studying with critical thinking and perseverance. The instructor has an expert level and offers a competitive online and private classes training in chess. The vision of the instructor in the long run is to collaborate with high end instructors or professionals if the younger students manifest their talents and would like to take advantage of future opportunities.
Since 2018, the instructor has collaborated with the El Alfil Club in Changuinola with the constant participation of students that have won 1st place in the regional level of Meduca Primaria (Elementary Ministry of Education), and in Nationals like Sub 12 and Sub 10.
And he keeps Sub-18 and Sub-20 players motivated to practice chess with discipline, either for the purpose of developing good mental health habits or if they aspire to achieve better sports results. He encourages students to be curious and recognize the need to think in order to study, learn, and have a vision for their goals, and one of his proposals is that if they want to improve in chess, they should be brave enough to make an effort and overcome challenges in a game of chess to enhance the quality of the club and competition.
Bocas Chess recently had the honor of participating in a national tournament in Panama City, at the Irving Saladino Sports Complex, from February 21st to 24th, 2024. The main objective of this event was to send a group of 16 young players to gain their first experience and plan for training in the upcoming year 2024.
Estiven Sam, Enzo Bonilla from Rogelio Ibarra College, and Ian Martin had a good performance, particularly Estiven Sam, who only lost 2 out of 6 games and drew with Blitz Champion Layla Caicedo, where Estiven sacrificed 2 pieces to attack his opponent’s king and end in a draw.
Bocas Chess is always fundraising for the next opportunity to participate in tournaments in Panama City and beyond. We accept donations to help cover transportation and food costs for some students. You can contact Secretary Joel Sanz directly, or if you wish to donate, a volunteer is conducting the fundraising on GoFundMe.
Editor’s Note: I encourage every single one of our readers to support Bocas Chess. Donate to the GoFundMe, sponsor a membership of a local student, or become a member yourself!
You can be an extremely passive member, like yours truly. I might visit the club and play a very rare game of chess, but really the only commitment is the $20 annual fee and filling out a Google registration form. Sure, you can attend the meetings and events if you wish, but you don’t have to. They will send you an invite to the club’s WhatsApp group and you can follow along with its progess there and on social media. I know there are a lot of $20/year causes out there to support, and here is one, and as someone who has witnessed its development of Bocas chess Club over the years, I can assure you it is a very impactful movement to support. I hope this article inspires five more Bocas Chess Club members. To join, fill out this Google Form and contact Joel Sanz +507 6561-0593 and bocaschess4kids@gmail.com
Visit the official website of Bocas Chess: www.bocaschess.org and follow along on social media @bocas.chess on Instagram and Bocas Chess on Facebook.
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