Let's break down barriers

With Chess

I gave a virtual class and talk to inmates at Lurigancho Prison in Lima and was very pleased to see once again how the inclusive message conveyed by chess breaks down all barriers.

Being incarcerated in a prison must be a tremendous ordeal, and I believe that promoting the practice of chess would be a great balm to help so many human beings cope with such difficult circumstances while benefiting from the many recognised virtues of this noble game.

In our vulnerable human condition, we are inevitably prone to error, and that is why cultivating good thinking can help us, among many other things, to make better decisions.

Just as thinking can lead us astray into the tyranny of vanity, it can also transport us to a higher plane.

Few activities such as chess imitate so well that constant duality of life which is trial and error, and it is precisely learning from our mistakes and recognising them properly that is the key to trying to be better people.

GM Julio Granda