Since then, this subject has been compulsory in schools and kindergartens in Kalmykia. Later, the global Chess in Schools programme grew out of this remarkable initiative.
On March 8, the final of the Moscow chess championship among boys and girls under 9 years old (born in 2013 and younger) ended. The competition was held in accordance with the Swiss system in nine rounds (classical time control: 50 minutes plus 10 seconds for each move). 62 young players competed in the five-day struggle: 44 boys and 18 girls.
The silver medallist of the championship was the young Kalmyk chess player Roman Shogdzhiev playing for Moscow. The young player scored 8 points out of 9 and lost only one game to the winner of the tournament.
“Roma, who just turned 6 a month ago, was among the youngest players while his main competitors are 2 years older. Therefore, we are very pleased with his performance. Roma's tenacity and determination can only be envied, therefore our coach (Dmitry Sarangov) believes that he will be a champion soon," said the chess player's dad.
As you know, the Kalmyk chess school is one of the strongest. And this ascent began from the time when the historical decree of first President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, "On state support of chess" was issued. Then teaching chess became a compulsory subject in local schools.
