Young chess strategists match wits State tournament draws brainy set
By Jere Downs
The Courier-Journal

Louisville Collegiate sixth-grader Caroline Folz gobbled up some strawberry Sour Patch Straws before her final match. Nick Crawford, a junior at duPont Manual High School, just made sure he got extra sleep Friday night.

The two joined hundreds of other young people from across Kentucky to compete yesterday in the Kentucky Chess Association 2008 State Scholastic Team Championship at Crosby Middle School in Middletown.

Chess “takes a lot of mental energy,” Caroline, 11, explained after she and Nick, 17, played to a draw. “You have got to keep the pieces moving in your head.”

That is the whole point of chess, according to Myron Smith, 49, a chess coach at Dunn Elementary in Louisville.

“You cannot memorize the answers,” said Smith. “You have to have strategies to get from point to point.”

Here is the full article.

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