Chess players drawn together

At Central York, chess players drawn together
By NICHOLE DOBO
Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 03/07/2009 01:48:26 PM EST

If he had a choice, Michael Ghaben might pick chess over Wii or an electronic game.

There’s one thing that the 13-year-old looks for when he’s deciding how to spend his time.

“If I would be playing someone good in chess, then I would play chess,” the 13-year-old Central York Middle School student said.

Ghaben is one of four Central York students who will compete in a chess tournament Sunday. He’s a lead player in the club, and is sometimes called Bobby Fischer — the name of the youngest ever U.S. chess champion — on occasion by his teacher.

This is the first year for the school’s chess team, and it’s gaining momentum in the school, said teacher Mark Werner, who started the club. Werner played chess in college, and decided to form the group when a teacher from Lancaster asked him last fall to get a Central York group together to play in tournaments.

In Central York’s first tournament, the team tied for first place.

On a typical day, about 12 students cart their lunch trays to Werner’s classroom, where they play chess and eat together. They also spend evey Thursday afternoon practicing.

“This game gets them to really think,” he said. “They just love it.”

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