The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chess club having first tournament
Fayetteville elementary school’s competition scheduled for Feb. 28.
On Friday afternoons, about 75 students from Inman Elementary in Fayetteville sit down for an intense hour of low-tech competition. No joy sticks or video screens are required.
The Inman Chess Club offers students in grades 3 through 5 the chance to stretch their critical thinking and planning muscle. The club has been engaging youngsters since teacher Charlie Harper launched it last year.
“I’ve always been a chess enthusiast, and for years I’ve been talking to the principal about starting some kind of extracurricular for the students,” he said. “Then I started teaching the gift program a few years ago, and it gave me the flexibil- ity to teach chess in the classroom. When I saw how they took to it, I saw we needed to include more students than my 50 third- to fifth-graders.”
Harper expected to get about 20 students involved in the after-school club, but about 90 signed up. And only a handful had any exposure to chess.
“The first time we met, we split into groups and spent the entire session teaching the game, but anyone who was ready to play, we let them,” he said.
The school’s parent-teacher organization bought 20 inexpensive, small chess sets and supplied volunteers who helped during the Friday contests. “As soon the parents saw how many students we had, they donated money for us to buy 25 very nice sets,” said Harper. “We also just received $1,000 from the local Kiwanis Club to buy chess clocks.”
Along with the after-school contests, students often compete in monthly tournaments in Coweta and Clayton counties. Harper had the idea to establish a regular competition in Fayette County as well. The initial event is set for Feb. 28 at the school.
Having a tournament close to home will give more players the chance to play, Harper expects. One of those youngsters looking forward to the event is 9year-old third grader Allie Ball.
“Having our own tournament at school will be awesome,” said Ball, who started playing chess last year. “I’ve been to other tournaments since October, and I’ve won two games. I’ve made progress, and Mr. Harper keeps teaching us new tricks.”
Fourth-grader Bryce Bennett joined the club at the beginning of the school year and was taken with the challenge.
“Chess makes you try and think ahead about what you are going to do, not just what happening right now,” he said. “That was hard when I started, but I’m getting better at it.”