The consortium formed by WSEI together with partners from Spain and Lithuania undertook the implementation of the project MATE. The project name is an acronym from the English title – MULTIDIMENSIONAL ANALYTICAL TRAINING IN EDUCATION, i.e. multidimensional analytical training in education.
The need addressed by our proposal was the necessity to introduce chess into school education. Regardless of the child’s age, chess can improve their concentration, increase patience and perseverance, and also develop creativity, intuition, memory, as well as analytical thinking and decision‑making skills. Additionally, playing chess also teaches determination, motivation and sports‑like behaviour (Written Statement No. 5/2011 of the European Parliament of 30 November 2011).
In order to achieve the best possible effects, the introduction of chess must, however, be “wise” – it must help young people to recognise the developmental benefits of chess, as well as show that playing chess can be good fun.
To this end, our consortium plans to create modular software that will support the diagnosis of children’s cognitive skills and will offer training appropriate to the level of their competences. The software will be a tool created for teachers and trainers for use in the school environment.