Budding chess queens at an Altrincham school are getting some expert help – from the British Women’s Champion.
Sarah Hegarty started playing at the age of just three and by the age of seven had been chosen to play former world champion Gary Kasparov for a Blue Peter special.
Trained as a lawyer, the 26-year-old has now given up her job as a solicitor to focus on her great passion – and Loreto Preparatory School is one of the schools where she is helping to set up a chess club.
She said: “We need to get more girls playing what has traditionally been thought of as a pastime for boys. I love the game; there are literally millions upon millions of different outcomes and no one game is ever the same as another.
“For the beginners I will teach the basic rules but for the more advanced players, such as we have at Loreto, I go through some opening plays, how to close out a game and some strategies for middle plays. I see how they approach the game and then go through their mistakes and suggest stratagems they might adopt in their next game.”
Sarah is pictured with seven-year-olds Aine Pegler and Loreto’s young maestro Maria Denisova (on the right), who is already making moves on the county junior circuit. Sarah said: “Maria promises to be a great talent and is a joy to coach.”
Loreto Prep headteacher Helen Norwood said: “It is a great opportunity for our girls to train under one of the best chess players in the country. You can already see them thinking many moves ahead and see the cogs whirring away as they play each game.”
