Chess is being used to improve the lives of underprivileged children and the homeless in a Bradford project which is the first of its kind in Britain.

The Renaissance Academy visits homeless shelters and some of the city's most deprived estates, teaching young people how to play the game and use the mental discipline it instils in their every day lives.

The academy is the brainchild of Charles Wood, 36, of Bolton Woods, with a little help from Antonio Fattorini, a member of the famous Bradford jewellery family, who first formed an academy to help young people into the game in the late 19th century when he was president of Bradford Chess Club.

Mr Wood said: "The idea was originally Antonio Fattorini's, who was a huge Bradford character.

"Antonio Fattorini was, among many other things, the maker of one of the first chess clocks. His idea was to take a coach and go out and visit ordinary children in Bradford. In those days it cost a year's wage to be a member of the Bradford Chess Club.

"Mr Fattorini decided to take the game to the ordinary people. For some reason it never got off the ground, but that is why I decided to form the Renaissance Academy to train people in the community.

"We have a group on the Canterbury Estate and one in West Bowling, and we also have a group at the Bradford City Centre Project.

"We work with some really fantastic kids and, although we've only been going for six months, are already seeing great progress.

"The biggest benefits that come out of learning chess are improved problem solving skills and concentration. It can also really help in terms of building confidence. If you are from a background where you have been knocked back all your life it can really affect your self-esteem.

"We offer a certification programme and aim to bring people to semi-professional standard. One of our major objectives is to have a Bradfordian as the next Yorkshire champion."

Mr Wood has become an accredited coach with the English Chess Federation.

Federation spokesman Peter Wilson said: "I had no idea this was happening, Charles phoned me out of the blue to tell me.

"He is bubbling with enthusiasm and his excitement is contagious. I think it is an absolutely marvellous project and also very unusual. I have heard of a similar project in New York but not here in the UK.

"For children who may be about to go off the rails, or who have had few opportunities, chess can be a very positive thing. Chess can help you throughout your life and can be a way of forging great friendships, as well as instilling mental discipline and strategic thinking.

"Charles has gone about this in the correct way, training as a coach and bringing other people on board. This can only be a good thing."

Patrick Smith, of the Bradford City Centre Project, said: "In some ways it's quite an unusual project, but it works.

"Chess is not the first thing you think of when working with marginalised young people but there has been a really keen response. Three of our young people went to the last competition Charles organised and did really well.

"Charles has a real way of engaging with people. It's his personality that gets people involved. I think it's important for Charles as well, working with us, as these are the young people he really wants to reach out to, young homeless people who often get neglected."

e-mail: paddy.mcguffin @bradford.newsquest.co.uk