Every Sunday she is faithful at post at Toren 75, where she practices one of the oldest board games in the world. “I’ve been playing chess since I was in fourth grade,” says Elena Taelman from Firmin Deprezstraat. She lives there with mom Joke, dad Frederik and brother Jonas.
“By playing chess I combine a mind sport with an exercise sport, because I also play badminton. I practice both sports once a week. I often practice at home with my dad, but also weekly in the Kortemark Toren 75 chess club. Dad has recently also become chairman there. He took me to the club once and at first I didn’t like it very much. After I mastered the game rules more and more, I started to enjoy the game very much. There are about 25 chess players in the club and we play against each other twice every chess season, one away and one at home, as in football. We also play in two different classes in the club. At the end of the season, the two best from second division may go to first division and the last two from first division must drop to second division. With the corona pandemic we usually continued to play, but with a mouth mask. Chess teaches you to think logically and sharpen your insight. It’s always nice to be able to checkmate someone at the end of the game.” (JDK)
Read all the stories of the Kinderkraks here
