Daniël used his SE hours to organize a chess tournament
For several years now, I have been a youth leader at the Max Euwe chess club in Enschede. During my graduation project at DGT (Digital Game Technology)—a company that makes electronic chess boards—I came across this chess club through field research. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to stay involved.
What do you do for the chess club?
As a youth leader, I teach chess to children aged around 6 to 16 every Tuesday evening. Additionally, I help organize various tournaments. The municipality of Enschede frequently asks us to organize chess tournaments at primary schools, where all students can sign up and compete against each other. Schools also sometimes reach out to us on their own initiative, for example, to introduce children to mind sports like chess during a sports day.
Besides these activities in Enschede, we also organize other (youth) tournaments across the province of Overijssel.
How do you make time for this?
A few months ago, we had a tournament on a Friday, and I used my SE hours for it. While training for the Eiberrun, I heard from some colleagues that they were using their SE hours for running clinics. That made me wonder: “Could I use these hours for chess as well?”. I checked with HR, and they confirmed that it was definitely allowed. That was great news because school chess tournaments sometimes take place on a Wednesday, which would otherwise mean taking a day off.
Do you play chess yourself?
Definitely! Though within the club, I am primarily focused on organizing tournaments and other activities. Chess is a small sport, so I really enjoy contributing as a youth leader to help put it more in the spotlight.
Daniël Rabbers
Layout Engineer
Used his SE hours to organize a chess tournament for primary schools
Want to know more?
Would you like to learn how to play chess or do you have children who might be interested? Take a look at the website sgmaxeuwe.nl or send a message to Daniël (daniel.rabbers@marel.com).