PUPILS from The Dell School, Chepstow, have raised hundreds of pounds for Yankho Elementary School (YES) in Malawi by participating in two simultaneous chess competitions against Bulgarian grandmaster Marian Petrov.

Last Tuesday (14th July), the children were sponsored to survive as many moves as possible against GM Petrov, who is visiting this country to play in the South Wales International held in Cardiff.

Mr King, headmaster at The Dell School, said: "Having visited YES earlier this year, I can see that the money raised will really help the school by improving teachers' resources for teaching, reading, and writing in English."

In the morning, 20 children played against Petrov in the school hall, with four matches going beyond 40 moves. A second simultaneous match took place at noon in the town library, where 15 children from The Dell were joined by two from Undy.

"It was a great day," said Richard Stevenson, leader of chess at The Dell, "the children were inspired by playing a grandmaster, with many recording their games, which they can go back over and learn from.

"More important than this is the raising of money for a school that has far fewer resources than those found in Wales."