Under the Youth Exchange Programme we realized the traditional international meeting called FRIENDS OVER CHESS. It was attended by a total of 50 participants from six countries. This event was the culmination of international activities which are organized or co-organized by the association PROTEBE and it is an important platform for the maintenance of international relations between partner organizations from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland. All these organizations are engaged in the integration of young people with various types and degrees of health eventually social disability into the healthy population. The goal of this meeting was learning about new cultures, make new friendships, breaking down prejudices about foreigners and children and youth with disabilities and also the improvement in the playing chess. An important part of the project was an educational program that focused on self-knowledge and self-development. The activities were realized in the form of interactive workshops, seminars and excursions. Educational program built on the principles and elements of experiential learning and social skills training. The activities were modified to allow maximum participation of all participants due to the type and degree of their disability. Another important component of the meeting was a chess tournament that hosts the above-mentioned countries whose participants are conscientiously preparing throughout the whole year. Although the youth is meeting during the year at smaller chess tournaments and keeps old friendships from previous years, the Prague tournament always ends those year-round efforts and opens up new hopes for future winners. A very important aspect of any organized year is the generational cohesion of the whole event. Chess players we saw years ago in the role of the youngest participants of the tournament can be found after years as assistant coaches of disabled children. Former coaches involve their younger successors in organization, and we are very proud of the fact that this aspect appears not only in Czech organizations, but also in foreign ones. Still, the newcomers are an important element of this event. They don't recognize the surroundings of this spectacular event and need help not only personal assistance of trained volunteers or even the organizers of the project but also from the interpreters who will help them to become better acquainted with their surrounding, making friends with handicapped but also healthy opponents from other countries, but especially to become well oriented in an unknown international chess world, which will certainly contribute to the intellectual development of these newcomers. The project pointed out how important are personal and social competences of all people for the life in society. Some interesting findings for the organizers and also for participants came out of learning about national differences in the level of involvement into offered activities and as well as the ability to take advantage of the activities for personal development. The international comparison helped to reveale the existing reserves and barriers and showed possible ways to eliminate them. The project - FRIENDS OVER CHESS confirmed that working with this target group through the development of key life competencies is effective model for other such meetings we would like to realize in the future.