Published: November 9, 2008 6:00 a.m.
Young kings and queens: ‘Checkmate’
State chess championship draws all ages to see ‘rewarding’ game

Becky Manley
The Journal Gazette

The subdued sounds of chess pieces moved from square to square, the plastic clink of fallen pieces tossed aside and the rustle of pencils on paper as players recorded moves filled the auditorium at Canterbury High School on Saturday.

The school hosted the 2008 Indiana State K-12 Chess Championship, an all-day competition among more than 200 players from across the state.

Of those players, about half were from northeast Indiana and about 30 were Canterbury students, organizers said.

Bryan Ryker, 53, a parent of a Canterbury Chess Club member, said it was the eighth year Canterbury hosted the competition.

The competition operated on the Swiss system, in which each player played five rounds against other players with the same number of wins.

Players have 40 minutes to complete each game.

Players only compete against their own grade, which levels the playing field, Ryker said.

“It just gives the little guys a chance to be recognized,” Ryker said.

Inside the auditorium, Canterbury chess instructor and coach Jim Dean, 30, patrolled the aisles between long tables set up with chess boards and timers.

Dean, a four-time Indiana state chess champion at the adult level, said he played sports while a student himself but he liked the fact that he only had himself to rely upon when playing chess.

“Chess is very rewarding in its own way,” Dean said.

Here is the full article.

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