Emotional growth is an extremely important part of a child's development, allowing them to develop the skills needed to cope with life's challenges. One of these is learning how to cope with failures or setbacks in a healthy manner. Studies have shown that excessive exposure to gadgets may hinder children's emotional regulation due to a lack of socialization and encourage drastic outbursts such as tantrums.
Experts say that it's important to give children a suitable outlet for their energy and innate competitiveness, and one of the best ways to do that is through sports, which create a structured opportunity for socialization and instruction. One such sport is chess, which has seen a surge in popularity among young people in recent years, thanks in part to a hit series that brought it to the forefront of pop culture. Due to the fact that chess can easily be played online, it was also the perfect game to play during the COVID lockdowns in 2020.
Premier Chess Academy (PCA), one of the largest child-focused online chess academies in the world, headquartered in the US, believes that chess is an excellent way to teach children valuable lessons that will serve them well into adulthood and for the rest of their lives. Founded in 2020 amidst the COVID pandemic by alumni of Silicon Valley tech giants, PCA aims to ignite the passion for chess in children all over the world with international-quality chess coaching at affordable rates.
According to PCA chief executive Renjith Balakrishnan, chess teaches children how to accept defeat gracefully. Even the best player in the world loses games, and playing chess provides opportunities for children to process defeats and properly deal with the accompanying frustration. PCA coaches provide emotional support during setbacks and failure, encouraging children to pick themselves up and move on, with a goal to become better next time.
"We teach children to excel, and we also tell them that failures are part of life. You need to learn from them and move on," Balakrishnan says. "Another important lesson chess teaches is that every move has a consequence – every move you make influences everything that happens later, which is why it's important to think 10 steps ahead. Furthermore, there's no single way of playing chess, just as there's no single way to live life. There are so many different variations of chess, some with randomized positions or played blindfolded, and some don't even have a board in front of the players."
To encourage children to take a deeper interest in chess, PCA holds internal online tournaments, which not only prepare them for external competitions but also give them a sense of accomplishment. Top performers are featured on the website's Star Kids section, motivating them and giving them the confidence to face further challenges.
Today, PCA has trained more than 7,000 students from 20 countries, with most of them located in the US and MENA. It also engages more than 100 FIDE-rated instructors who are carefully selected and screened to ensure that they are not only skilled in chess but are also a safe and positive influence in their student's lives. PCA has provided a livelihood to coaches who otherwise would not be able to have sustainable revenue due to the limited opportunities in the world of chess. The typical PCA coach earns more than a graduate engineer. PCA's support to coaches is not only financial but has promoted their reputation in community and social circles, further opening doors for them. According to coaches many of their dreams are coming to reality. One such individual is Mohammed Salih, a Former Para-Olympian who was struggling financially until he was employed by PCA as a coach. The coaches at PCA have been so thankful for the support there that they even wrote a song in dedication.
According to PCA co-founder Deepak Subramani, all coaches undergo a three- to four-week boot camp that teaches them how to effectively coach young chess learners as well as ensure that they are truly passionate about mentoring the next generation. PCA also provides livelihood opportunities to people in India, with more than 20 non-coaching staff handling sales and administration roles. Some of them are single breadwinners of the family, and PCA provided them with a means to work remotely and support their families.
"Premier Chess Academy seeks to connect the world through chess and train the next generation of the global chess community," Subramani says. "Our company was built on three pillars – the first is integrity, where we emphasize truthfulness and loyalty. The second is teamwork. While chess is technically an individual sport, we build a framework that brings together chess coaches and the rest of the staff to work together. Every person in our team is like a building block for our larger vision. Our third pillar is community, by supporting everyone, from our students and their parents to our coaches, and our staff. Through the game of chess, we are able to expose students to people from other countries and cultures, creating a more global sense of community."
