Throughout the years, we have met many educators from all over the world in our Training Courses and Discussion Group Meetings who are doing a great job with Chess in Education. We want to introduce their unique perspectives and share their stories that might be of interest and inspiration to others.
Meet Norbert Quitter from Germany
Norbert discovered chess later in life, but it quickly became more than just a hobby. What began as a beginner’s curiosity has grown into an active role supporting children’s training, fostering focus, resilience, and a love for the game.
His story proves that it’s never too late to start something new, that lifelong learning can open the door to meaningful work, fresh purpose, and a passion you never knew you had.
Hey, I’m Norbert and I’m 50 years old. I’m a policy advisor for onboard service and MOF coordinator at DB Fernverkehr AG, Germany. MOF stands for “Human and Organisational Factors.” In aviation, as well as other industries, this is known as “human factors.” A positive error culture is an important component.
I only started playing chess two and a half years ago. It was a random idea that two friends and I came up with to pass the time. Well, then it started to be fun, and to my surprise, I discovered that error culture and error analysis are very important components in chess as well. I benefit surprisingly greatly from chess professionally. I’ve always possessed analytical thinking, patience, creativity and decisiveness, but these are now positively reinforced through chess.
For the past two years, I’ve been a member of the Schachgesellschaft 1931 Bensheim e.V. (Bensheim Chess Society) to improve my skills and connect with active chess players.
Since I’m a beginner myself, I started by attending children’s training sessions. One thing led to another, and today I actively support our chess coach.
When training with children, I’m often impressed by their ability to concentrate they demonstrate and also by their joy in playing and learning. The greater challenge comes when they get frustrated because something doesn’t work out the way they hoped.
That was also one of the reasons why I attended the ECU101 course: The SMART Method to Teach Chess. It was truly worthwhile to participate in this course. I received a lot of information and support on how to deal with children, and at the same time, I had a great exchange with the other participants. A big compliment goes to Lothar Handrich as the trainer, but also to Walter Rädler, who joined in the conversation. Most of all, I value the enthusiasm they both have for teaching chess to be a very important pedagogical factor. I’ve since adopted much of this enthusiasm myself.
With the knowledge I’ve acquired, I can now better support the children’s training at our club. In the long term, I would also like to provide more support for the school chess club we run.
I benefit from chess in many different aspects of my life. I’m also learning chess better now because I prepare intensively for the training sessions, and children are very demanding in the best possible way.
The only thing that annoys me is that I discovered chess so late, but I’ve recognised my mistakes and I am now working intensively on it.