The Providence School in French Guyane (South America) has a chess project for young chess players from Ugande and France. They hope for academic and social benefits, but the aim is also to understand the bridges between chess and biodiversity. A part of the project is to create chess board and pieces of bamboo, a grass that has less climate impact than both plastic and wood.
“We want young people on both sides of the ocean to reflect on an innovative initiative for the sustainable practice of chess”, wrote Daniel Baur, member of the French National School Board, when the project started. “I believe it is essential that children (who will manage the world by hand) also think about the more green chess game. It seems to me that the green reflex must become the reflex of all, in every action of life, everywhere in the world.”
In the end of January, everything goes as planned.
“Bamboo seeds grow well and we should harvest enough chess pieces in a few months. It is very important for children to follow all the steps of this ecological creation: sowing seeds, harvesting stems, making parts. The symbol is that they carry out all these phases by themselves; this will give them confidence in this option of sustainable development. Afterwards, they will see how to make the pieces on a larger scale than for a single game.”
Read more on the French chess federation.