Chess to better their problem-solving skills

The students’ interest in chess is so intense, in fact, that they walked away with first, second and third place at a recent chess tournament held at the Intermediate Unit in Clarion.

And no wonder. In most schools that offer chess, the kids play the game once a week. The Hilltop students play every day, usually during lunch period.

The young players have an excellent mentor in Buchan, who is an avid chess player. Buchan not only pursues chess as a hobby, but goes so far as to build his own chess sets.

“Every year, I do a couple of chess board with the kids,” Buchan said.

The results of the tournament showed how Pleasantville’s dedication to chess paid off.

“We took three teams,” Buchan said of the Clarion tourney. “All of our players had to earn their way in [through a playoff].”

The local students were well prepared for the event. The top school players went to districts. The best district players, in turn, qualified for the tourney, with 16 of those players entering the playoffs.

“They had been playing each other for weeks — the best of the best,” Buchan said.

The fourth- and fifth-graders who participated in the tournament are now back at home, adopting third-graders as their students.

“Not to beat them up, but to teach them,” Buchan explained.

Incidentally, none of the Hilltop students who participated in the tourney will probably forget the first match — a fire-alarm was pulled and the building they were in had to be evacuated.

The Hilltop chess players start young and develop quickly, gaining experience through tournaments.

Andy Fish has been playing chess since he was in the third grade.

A fifth-grader now, he was one of the students who participated in the most recent tourney.

“I did better than I thought I would,” he said.

Of the Pleasantville school program, he said, “You can play with different people and get to know them.”

Another fifth-grader, Wyatt Caryl, said he had been playing chess since the third or fourth grade.

“Andy (Fish) and Rob Buchan taught me how to play,” he noted.

With such excellent mentors, Caryl was able to capture second place in the tournament.

Second-grade student Xaviar Sider described the chess program as “Awesome.”

He told The Herald, “I won three out of four matches at the tournament.”

Chess is more than a game, according to Buchan.

“Kids that play chess do better academically and socially,” he said. “The interaction of the individual pieces improve problem solving, which is a big plus.”