Show the right moves in South Africa

DURBAN DAILY NEWS – August 10, 2007
Master to show them the right moves

David MacEnulty has changed many a young person’s life for the better.And he has done this simply by teaching the youngsters to play chess, and use those skills in situations outside of the boardgame.

MacEnulty’s amazing skill at the challenging game of kings and queens has made such an impression that a film based on his life story was produced two years ago. The movie featured MacEnulty’s efforts to improve the lives of the disadvantaged children in the Bronx area.

Although he had worked as an instructor for the American Chess Foundation for a year, he decided that teaching chess to primary school pupils was what he wanted to do.

Hence, as part of the Chess-in-the-Schools programme, he became the first full-time New York City public school teacher to teach chess as a subject. What amazed sceptical onlookers was the results of MacEnulty’s work he had turned the pupils of that school, located in one of the poorest districts in that state, into chess champions. The pupils took first prize at the New York City and New York State Chess Championships. And that was just the beginning. Between 1994 and 1997, his students won more than 500 individual and team trophies and the work of MacEnulty began to reach wider audiences.

As a result, MacEnulty has since released many books, computer software and instructional videos on how to play chess, how to teach youngsters to play chess and the benefits of chess in daily life situations.

An assistant principal at a primary school in New York remarked: “Not only have the reading and math skills of these children soared, their ability to socialise has increased substantially, too. Our studies have shown the incidents of suspension and outside altercations have decreased by at least 60% since these children became interested in chess.”MacEnulty has been featured on CNN and CBS Sunday and recently on M-Net’s Carte Blanche.

MacEnulty will be visiting schools in the Durban area promoting the teaching of chess as a subject and exposing pupils to the world of chess.

He will also be opening the second uShaka Rapid Chess Tournament at uShaka on Sunday.