A love of chess ups this teenager’s game
June 1 2011 at 11:03am
Jauhara Khan
The game of chess has long been touted as a powerful tool to discipline and broaden the mind, and there is no greater advocate of this belief than Umgababa teenager Qiniso Mbambo.
For the 16-year-old chess whizz from Esizibeni Comprehensive School in Mfume on the South Coast, the game has turned his life around academically and socially, so much so that chess education programme Moves for Life has invited him to the Commonwealth and South African Open Chess Championship in Joburg next month.
Qiniso, or “Q”, as he is known, has rapidly gained fame as his school’s best chess player despite only joining the school chess club, started by teacher Guen Weightman, in June last year.
“It took me a month to learn the game. I had to know how the pieces moved and the strategies. It was very difficult, but Ms Weightman gave me a book and my dad also played chess. By September I started winning my games,” said Qiniso.
Polite, well-spoken and neat in his bright blue blazer, Qiniso gets admiring looks from his peers, but he is the first to admit that he was attracting attention of a different kind last year.
“I was always getting into trouble. No one wanted to talk to me. My teachers complained about me all the time. My parents also shouted at me because my marks were bad. I used to say whatever I wanted in class just to get attention. I was selfish and didn’t care about anyone else,” he said.
Despite being an intelligent pupil, Qiniso said he had battled with maths, attaining grades below 20 percent, and English.
“Now I get 80s and 90s for maths. Ms Weightman speaks to us when we’re playing, so my English has improved. When you play chess you have to think about what your opponent is thinking. It made me realise I need to consider other people’s feelings,” Qiniso said.
Weightman also described him as being more focused and positive.
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