John Shafa
My chess journey:
I was introduced to chess for the first time at a very young age. My grandfather Frankie Micallef had some incredible game sense and strategic thinking from his career on the Maltese national soccer team and was also a great chess player. Unfortunately I was not really playing chess as much after my move to Austria in 2006.
It was only after I had finished school and moved to Germany when my flame for Chess reignited.
I frequently attended chess clubs and tournaments in Frankfurt and started playing online. Currently my Coach Jan Füssel is helping me get my rating past the 2000 mark.
I always liked pushing past my limits and it is no different with chess!
Working with kids and groups:
Apart from the fact that I am the eldest son in my family with many younger siblings, I started working with kids at the age of 15 in Austria with the "Kinderfreunde" organization and the "Rote Falken". Sports, games, group challenges and trips combined with education about history and science and more was included in the program.
On my way to adulthood my peers and I were taught how to effectively plan our time with groups of kids of different ages and give them the best experience from all worlds by getting them involved as much as possible, unlike school where it's mostly just listening.
Surprisingly I found myself working with kids again here in Canada. In 2020 and 2021 I was involved in caring for fosterkids. And currently in 2022 I host and teach the chess classes at Flying Minds.
