Teaching chess in Tamil: our first workshops in Madurai

Most chess resources are in English. Most of our students in Madurai are not. So the first thing we did was translate the lesson: piece names, "capture", "check", and the notation that lets a player record and replay a game.

Teaching in Tamil changed the room. Students stopped waiting to be told what to do and started asking questions. By the second session, the ones who had picked it up fastest were explaining moves to the ones beside them, which is exactly how a chess community is supposed to work.

We left with a list of students who want to keep going, and a commitment to fund their weekly coaching. More soon.