St. Margaret of Scotland School in St. Louis is a grade 1-8 elementary school. The school has a chess club & team. 6th & 7th graders have done well in scholastic chess competitions.

Recently, Webster University Professor Al Marcella requested for the support from the chess team. The session took place last night. Approximately 30 students and parents attended.

Mara Kamphorst, Jake Banawa & Fidel Corrales spoke with the group about their personal history in chess. They also talked about tactics & strategy of the game and gave a demonstration of basic moves.

Then they conducted a Q & A session. After that Jake & Fidel gave a simul to the kids. At the end, the students were invited to challenge grandmaster Corrales to a handicap chess game, with the students having 8 min vs 2 min advantage.

As a requirement for members of the Webster University SPICE program, students must focus on their academic studies (most members of the national championship team finished the year with between a 3.8 – 4.0 GPA), work to improve their chess, and volunteer in the community, etc.

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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