Tuesday February 27, 2007
At Pleasant Valley, chess is a school sport
DiLeo leads students into battle on the board
by JANET HEIM
KNOXVILLE – It’s a competitive game of strategy, but team adviser Mike DiLeo stresses good sportsmanship, as with most sporting events.
The strategy involved in this game, however, requires clever movement of game pieces – on a chess board.
That sentiment is echoed on the T-shirts chess club team members wear. “Play to learn” is on the front, with “Play to win . . . accept a draw . . . show good sportsmanship!” on the back.
“That’s important,” DiLeo said.
DiLeo lives in Knoxville in southern Washington County and his three children attend Pleasant Valley Elementary School. He became involved four years ago when the school’s Quest teacher sent home a flier about starting a student chess club and asking for parent volunteers.
DiLeo stepped up, having played chess since he was a youngster. When the teacher left the school at the end of that school year, DiLeo took over the chess club. His children – Dominic, Vincent and Sierra Smith-DiLeo are on the 14-student team.
Two years ago, DiLeo added a new level of challenge for the students when he discovered that there were chess tournaments around the state. He signed his team up.
Here is the full story.
Way to go DiLeo!