May 2024. Perugia. Two women approach the Fontana Maggiore, in the centre of Piazza IV Novembre. One of the women shields her eyes from the glare of the sun, which is quite bright considering it’s only eight in the morning, then she bends down and stops to observe one of the twenty-five sides of the lower basin of the fountain. It is a bas-relief of the month of May, represented by two horsemen ready to leave; you can almost hear the patter of hooves, as they go hunting with a falcon.
‘Look,’ says the woman to the woman who seems to be a friend or colleague, standing next to her, ’the horses! Of all the chess pieces, the knight is my favourite. The knight jumps, it overcomes obstacles. It can move between houses, it isn’t tied to white or black. The knight has chosen freedom of movement. It’s similar to those who, in their work, move between different areas, to those who have chosen a transversal career rather than a linear one. Apparently the horse is worth little but for me it remains the strongest!’. “Chess is a metaphor for life” her friend intervenes “we are horses and bishops, we are kings and queens and we are also rooks, it depends on the circumstances, our objectives or our past. Today you will understand it better”. They walk away from the fountain together and turn into a side street, where they meet a group of people halfway down. Some already know each other, others are introducing themselves, some are talking animatedly, others are listening in silence. A few minutes later they are all in the same room, thirteen chess and training professionals united by the desire to become active participants in the Learning, Teaching and Training Activities (LTTA) of Icarus (No. 2023-1-IT02-KA220-ADU-000152409), an Erasmus+ Project that uses chess as an informal practice to encourage the free circulation of social and relational skills, emotional intelligence and empathy, specifically within a context in which the freedom of movement of individual bodies is limited and controlled: the prison.
The LTTA can be summarised as an opportunity for professionals from different fields to learn from each other in order to achieve a common goal. In this specific case, the thirteen people who met in Perugia are pooling their skills in the field of training and the development of soft skills, as well as their chess skills. Skill Up (Italy), Indepcie (Spain) and Jelgavas Teh (Latvia) are the three companies that belong to the first professional group; UniChess (Italy), Latvijas Saha Federacija (Latvia) and Club Magic Extremadura (Spain) are the three companies that operate in the chess world.
‘What are the strengths of the knight?’ asks one of the two Skill Up trainers. “I’ve been thinking about it since this morning and it’s still not clear to me.” “The knight,” replies a UniChess player after setting up the chessboard, ’represents the army of a kingdom. Its mode of movement is unique and for this reason it is difficult to predict its actions. See? If the other chess pieces are blocked by your own pieces or your opponent’s, the knight is the only one able to jump over them. Its actions are flexible even on a densely occupied chessboard because it can use every empty space. The knight’s movement pattern can take on very complex paths over the course of several moves. Like this one, for example.’
The LTTA ends at sunset and the group of partners decide to end the day with a toast in the nearby wine bar. As proof that chance is sometimes more effective than intention, a chessboard, well illuminated by a lamp, occupies the central part of a small table in the bar. And the emotions, the challenge and the learning are back in play.
Authored by: SKILL UP
