At the age of 8, Matthew Moore is already a self-taught chess aficionado and he’s on his way to making his dream of attaining the coveted title of chess master a reality.
The Edna Moyle Primary School student, who won the RUBiS Top Student of the Year contest in May, is not limiting his ambitions to the chess board as he hopes to take to the skies one day as a pilot and an astronaut.
“Follow the passion that your heart wants. If it’s a sport that you like, follow your passion to it.” That’s Matthew’s words of advice and the credo that he lives by as he builds on his dreams.
Matthew, who lives in South Sound with his brother Christian and parents Souhilla and Keehon Moore, told the Compass in a recent interview about his love for chess and flying.
“I like being in space. I like flying like birds,” he said shyly.
He also loves the challenge of chess and the fact that it helps him with his favourite subject: mathematics.
He pointed out that 64 squares on a chess board and 32 chess pieces, adding that playing chess helps with learning multiplication, especially the 4, 6 and 8 times table.
Love for chess started early
Matthew’s mother Souhilla said her son had shown an interest in the game from an early age.
“I believe Matthew’s love for chess was developed innately because as a toddler he instinctively gravitated towards the game, which was a pastime of [ours] before he was born,” she said. “At 3 years old, Matthew observed an old wooden chess board, tucked away in a corner of our home.
“He asked what it was, and I told him and showed him the pieces by setting up the board. It was too heavy for him, so I told him I would buy a kid-friendly chess set one day.”
A few months later, he received a gift – a kid-friendly paper and plastic chess set.
“He was elated. He asked his father and I to teach him how to play, but the rigors of daily routine did not permit it. At 4 years old, Matthew then took matters into his own hands,” she said, adding that he would watch YouTube videos learning how to play the game.
“He would update us on what he learned and sat almost every day with his kid-size chess set playing. He researched famous chess players and the origins of chess and eagerly shared his findings with me. Last year Christmas, I asked Matthew what he wanted for Christmas, and he said, ‘A real chess set,'” she said, and, of course, he got that wish.
Matthew got a real wooden chess board.
With a board of his own, he continued to feed his passion for chess, and his parents signed him up for classes to further develop his skills.
He is in his happy place in chess class, where he comes to life when he makes his moves on the board.
The Compass observed Matthew playing against his teacher in a session of ‘blind chess’, where the teacher does not look at the board but calls out his moves and Matthew moves his pieces to counter while looking at the board.
When he is not honing his chess-playing skills at the George Town Public Library in chess class, he can be found with his head buried in books of every kind.
“I read a lot all the time; that’s why I borrow books from my school library,” he said, adding that his favourite book is ‘Magic Tree House Merlin Mission: Soccer on Sunday’.
He said it’s a story about two children who go back in time in a magic tree house to find Pelé in the famous World Cup match in 1970.
Top Student surprise
Matthew said, since winning the RUBiS Top Student award, he has become popular among his schoolmates and wants to encourage them to do well.
More importantly, he said, he wants to be a role model for his baby brother Christian who is proud of his achievement.
“He’s excited. Each time when I’m not looking, he admires my medal,” he said, adding that he is happy for his family’s support.
“They’re gonna call me a RUBiS Top Student for the rest of the year,” he said.
Matthew said his mum submitted his name for the contest.
After winning, he said, “I feel grateful and I’m happy that I won.”
Mum Souhilla said her initial reaction when he won was immediate tears of joy.
“I was immensely proud of my son because I knew his personal struggles with being cautious, reserved, and unsure of himself, and where he fits in with other children,” she said. “I was extremely proud to know that entering this competition was solely his idea, not for his personal gain, but to introduce chess to his school curriculum for other children.”
A total of 80 students from various public and private schools in Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman participated in the contest which saw a field of 18 finalists emerge. Matthew’s top spot won him a $7,000 grant.
Matthew’s day begins early, she said, as his father Keehon wakes him on weekdays at 5:30am to prepare for school.
After school, he attends YMCA where he is very involved, until about 6pm after which he catches up on homework before bed.
He also practises his weekly spelling.
“He always has a book to read at night that he borrows, on his own, from the North Side Library. He loves to read. This often results in him coming up with his own ideas to write his own story, such as the story he wrote recently (in June 2023) that placed second in the Cayman Parent magazine’s first story competition,” she added.
Matthew’s success so early in life, she said, can be attributed to three things, “his creator our Heavenly Father,” his parents “who have been keen on building on his strengths,” and himself.
“[Matthew’s] strong sense of self-awareness makes him successful. From an early age, he would only focus on playing games or doing something that he was good at, then he becomes obsessed with it by practising and becoming great at it,” she said.
She said her son has a personal relationship with God and will be baptised on 25 June, at his request.
Looking back at their journey, the proud mum offered some words of advice to other parents, to follow their children’s prompts, directions and leads on gifts or talents that they really find interesting.
“Never put them in a box and compare them with the stereotypical milestones of other children,” she said. “For example, Matthew could not dribble a basketball between 5-7 years old, which is a milestone requirement for the formal education system, yet he was a self-taught chess player between ages 5-7, an achievement that only his parents recognised.
“Support your children’s vision by taking the time to help them with projects that they have sought your help with.”
Related Videos
