94 students compete in city chess championships
Posted On: Sunday, Feb. 1 2009 05:41 AM
Killeen Daily Herald – Killeen, TX, USA
By Todd Martin
Special to the Daily Herald
On a blustery Saturday, 94 students from across Killeen gathered in a school cafeteria to compete in the city chess championships.
An ancient game that dates to the 15th century in the West and long before that in India and Persia, chess continues to fascinate the strategic-minded.
At Rancier Middle School, teams gathered from Brookhaven, West Ward, Skipcha, Clear Creek, and Mountain View elementary schools, and Fairway, Palo Alto and Rancier middle schools.
Playing in three age ranges, the champions were third-grader Tahi Kenerson of Mountain View Elementary School, fifth-grader Chris Huber of Saegert Elementary School, and eighth-grader Matthew Charlton of Nolan Middle School.
The sponsors who work with the hundreds of students who take part in chess clubs point out that the game is not a respecter of age or social status.
Frank Arevalo, the chess club sponsor at Skipcha Elementary School, pointed out that an experienced first-grader could compete against a novice 12th-grader.
“Chess is open to all students,” said Darieck Foster II of Rancier Middle School, who organized the citywide tournament. “There are no special skills required. When you sit at the board, age doesn’t matter. The youngest can beat the oldest.”
Arevalo said chess is a “minds-on” activity and the school club is a motivator for students to stay out of trouble in order to participate.
Academically, he said, it challenges students to think strategically and to solve problems.
“I think chess teaches kids tools they can use in their everyday lives,” Foster said, explaining that the game demonstrates the importance of thinking before acting.
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