Hannes, Willy, Stefanie and Elise meet one another every Friday afternoon to play. But not computer games – they sit infront of their chess boards together with 14 contemporaries in the playing hall of SG Grün-Weiß Dresden. It’s a hustle and bustle: kids have a chat, the door opens and closes but for all that there is high concentration in the five training groups that are for the most part lead by teenagers.
„That’s what’s unique here“, explains chess youth development officer. Frank Schulze, „the older players look after the younger ones.“ What sounds like a sublime ideal is practiced week by week by the SG Grün-Weiß Dresden. Hence, 13-year old Saskia Stark plays like an old stager on the round table simultaneous against four kiddies. The keen girl already has some tournament experience and even was German runner-up champion in her age group in 2006. And besides her Paul Zwahr has gathered a big bunch of lads that carefully listen to the theoretical explanations of the 21-year old.
„The youth work of the SG Grün-Weiß Dresden has been reinstalled in 2000“,says chess supervisor Matthias Nake who has moved the youth work in the center of attention of the club work in cooperation with Frank Schulze. Thus, there is, for instance, a Youth Cup through which in the fist place the commitment for the club is priced: besides sportive success accounting criteria are regular participation in training sessions, cooperativeness and the completion of homework. Furthermore, the club organizes an annual youth tournament in Erfurt. Nake is also proud of the high ratio of girls in the club, being at 30 percent in comparison to the average of 13 percent in Dresden and 6 percent in Germany.
Besides youth work the adult club life is not to underestimate emphasizes Nake and relates to the four teams that are playing in various leagues of the region. Also, the club is active when it comes to activities of the Dresden Chess Association like the annual chess walk or the „Tour de Chess“ just as convivial get together with barbecues, christmas parties and skat tournaments.
The SG Grün-Weiß Dresden emerged from the site group „Traktor Dresden“of the VEB Grünanlagen in 1990/91 and does now have 120 members in four departments – volleyball, gymnastics, general fitness and chess – whereas chess constitutes the largest department with 60 members. The monthly club mite is five Euro for adults, adolescents and kids. At the moment the club is looking for a new playing venue.