Fourth Grader Wins Chess Championship

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It took a little bit of brain power and all the right moves for the best of the best in chess. Thirty elementary and middle school students from all over Kauai went head-to-head this weekend for the first annual chess championship.

Fourth grader Amari Walker was crowned chess champion. The prize is two nights at the Princeville Resort and $75 in spending money.

Organizers plan to expand the tournament statewide next year.

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Chess tournament attracts three Tupelo schools

4/11/2006 7:22:51 AM
Daily Journal
By ANDY KANENGISER

TUPELO – The future Boris Spasskys, Bobby Fischers and Garry Kasparovs could be on display in Tupelo next week.

About 30 youngsters from three Tupelo schools will battle it out in the third annual citywide chess tournament April 18.

Carver has won the chess crown with its talented team of 4th-, 5th- and 6th-graders the past two years. And the school hopes to keep the trophy on its campus another year by beating Milam and Lawndale.

But win or lose, all the students in the tournament thrive on the competition, said teacher Deborah McCoy, Carver’s chess club sponsor.

The event begins at 3:15 p.m. at the Carver cafeteria. The team from Milam is led by sponsor Lauren Shefield, while Lawndale is led by sponsor Kenneth Griswold.

McCoy, who teaches math, science and social studies, said the chess tournament builds students’ skills.

They learn strategy and build critical and logical thinking. “This helps them think before they act,” she said.”

It is a wonderful thing that kids are exposed to chess,” said School Board President Steve Ludt.

Carver’s club meets twice a month year-round. It’s a way for kids to develop their skills and some may play chess competitively a few years later at Tupelo High.

During the two-hour tournament, the games match one student against another. The team with the most points wins the tournament and the bragging rights for another year.

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Baldwin schools dominate chess league play

Bayside Academy takes championship in six-month challenge, followed by Fairhope High and Daphne High

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
By LEIGH T. MOORE
Correspondent,
Press-Register

Baldwin County schools swept the Mobile-Baldwin Scholastic League chess competition that ended with the Bayside Academy high school team taking home its third consecutive league championship.

Bayside coach Eric Nager described the win as an affirmation of the talent in Baldwin schools.

“Once upon a time, Fairhope (High School) was the only Baldwin County school participating in the league, and now we’ve got as many, if not more schools participating (than Mobile),” Nager said. “Baldwin County pretty much dominated the season. We’ve got smart kids. That’s what it is.”

In addition to Bayside’s top honor, Fairhope High took second place and Daphne High took third in the six-month competition that includes schools from Mobile and Baldwin counties.

“I think it was the first time Baldwin County had a clean sweep at the top,” Nager said. “We play one match a month from October through March, and 15 schools competed with 150 kids playing.”

Bayside junior Joey Nickerson won the Paul Morphy Award for most valuable player in the league. The title recognizes his five wins and one tie match playing at the top board, which put him against the best players from each school team.

“It’s very difficult to win six matches over a six-month period,” Nager said. “The kids are all involved in other sports and activities, and it’s just hard to keep a team together for that long.”

Nager started the chess team at Bayside in 2000, and in six years of competition Bayside has won three league championships and last year took home the national title in the K-12 Under 1,200 section in Nashville. But the team won’t be returning to nationals this year as the competition falls on the same day as the state championship April 21.

“It’s pretty impressive that we won a national title in our fifth year as an organization on our first try,” Nager said. “You can’t do everything, so we decided to forgo the nationals this year.”

The team did not forgo a goodwill trip to Russia over the weekend of April 1, however, which Nager said helped them prepare for the state competition.

“We had a whole week playing with master players in Russia,” Nager said. “It’s part of a group called Chess for Peace, and we were the only players from Alabama there.”

Master chess player Susan Polgar led a team of 26 players from the United States, five of whom were from Bayside, through a program that involved tours of Moscow, lectures from master players and a competition of four matches.

“The U.S. won two (matches) and lost two,” Nager said. “The Russians really study the game a lot, and most of their players were a little bit younger than ours. The youngest player from Bayside was in ninth grade.”

Bayside’s high school team also took home top honors at the Baldwin County Chess Tournament sponsored by Bayside Academy on March 13 and consisted of teams from Daphne, Foley, Fairhope and Robertsdale.

“The format is a little different there,” said Nager. “Instead of playing one match with a long time control, we play four with a much shorter time in which to make all your moves. Also, in the tournament we play with five-player teams.”

Bayside players named to the All-County first team are junior Stephen Smith on Board 2, Nickerson on Board 3, and junior Colby Parker on Board 4. Senior David Gardner made second team on Board 1.

The Admirals took second place to Christ the King in the junior high division. First team All-County Junior High honors went to freshman Matt Sinks on Board 4, and second team to freshman Zachary Huey on Board 2 and to freshman Mary Marks Nelson on Board 5.

“The students get out of school for the competition, and it’s really a reward for a good season,” Nager said.

At the March 16 championship, which was also hosted by Bayside, Nager won the best coach in the league award, recognition the former Fairhope High scholastic league player described as “very kind.”

“It’s a very arbitrary award selected by the league director,” he said. “It’s based on who makes the biggest contribution to chess, and he knew our team was going to Russia and all the outside work we’ve done. I think that’s why I won.” Posted by Picasa

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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