Brooklyn Chess Fever

Chess Fever at Brooklyn Scholastic Championship
by Don Evans
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Students from All Over Borough Compete at Brooklyn Tech H.S.By Don EvansBrooklyn Daily EagleBROOKLYN — Mental ability outscored brawniness in the gym on Thursday as players competed in the seventh annual All-Brooklyn Scholastic Chess Championship at Brooklyn Technical High School.

The tournament was sponsored by the MetroTech Business Improvement District (BID), the organization Chess-in-the-Schools and Brooklyn Tech itself.

Seated at row after row of tabletop chessboards filling the gym of the Fort Greene school, about 400 boys and girls from kindergarten through 12th grade tested their ability to checkmate their opponents’ king, based on what they have learned in the Chess-in-the-Schools program. The auditorium was used as an overflow space for parents and guests.

Founded 20 years ago, the Chess-in-the-Schools program currently is teaching chess to more than 27,000 students in 108 schools in the five boroughs.

Williamsburg Intermediate School 318 (I.S. 318k) claims the National Junior High School Championship resulting from a California tournament earlier this spring. The school also had the first-place team in the high school level at the Brooklyn tournament (in this case, high school and intermediate school are in one category).

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