Kids Play Life-Sized Chess Game At First-Ever Tournament

SOUTHOLD, NY — A visitor to Southold Elementary School Thursday happened upon a rare sight — a large group of kids outside, playing quietly and with great concentration, focused not on video games, phone apps or with electronic devices of any kind — but instead, strategizing intently as they engaged in spirited games of chess.

The first-ever chess tournament took place at Southold Elementary School with guest chess teammates from the Greenport Union Free School District also invited to join in.

(Lisa Finn)

And in a twist, kids also played with an outdoor, super-sized chess set, moving life-sized pieces around their outdoor chess board.

(Lisa Finn)

According to David Gamberg, superintendent of both the Southold and Greenport school districts, the idea for bringing chess to students was born after the "simple, kind gesture offered to the students at Greenport Schools."

With no strings attached, Wesley Wang, a 9th grade student at Jericho High School affiliated with CHESSanity, an organization devoted to promote the playing of chess among school-aged children, reached out to Gamberg at Greenport Schools, the superintendent said.

After an exchange of emails, a donation of 24 chess sets and some guidebooks were sent to both Greenport and Southold Elementary Schools.

Since then, two chess clubs were formed, one in each school, and over the past few months, second and third graders in both districts have met for an hour each week to learn the game and hone their skills.

“The skills and dispositions learned by playing this game are invaluable as children start to think strategically and carefully,” Gamberg said.

Wang, of CHESSanity, said the goal was to provide the games to students at no cost to introduce chess to young minds, and to maintain the supply regularly. The organization has donated
chess sets to 20 schools in four school districts in Long Island so far.

"I hope that our little help can have some positive impact upon these children, improve their academic performance, and build their self-esteem," he said.

Wang said since he and his brother, a college freshman, kicked of the non-profit organization CHESSanity, they have raised more than $35,000 by conducting chess classes every Friday night during the school years and organizing monthly competitive tournaments.

The funds raised have allowed them to give away the free chess sets to districts including Wyandanch, Roosevelt, and Hempstead, benefiting thousands of students.

In 2017, he said, two of the organization's students brought home the gold and bronze medals from the World Cadets Chess Championship, and seven placed on the Top 100 list in their respective age groups.

Chess has invaluable benefits, said David Riddell, chess club advisor at Southold Elementary School; he is also a third grade special education teacher. He added that at the tournament Thursday, the kids were encouraged to just focus on the joy of the game, not on competition.

"They're all winners," he said.

Since it was created, 22 students have joined the chess club in Southold, Riddell said.

Playing chess, Riddell said, fosters problem solving skills, as well as social and intellectual development. "There's a lot of strategy involved," he said. The club began with a focus on learning the game and how to move the pieces. "We just play a lot of chess," he said, adding that kids can even play chess online on secure, kid-friendly sites — with no chat rooms — if they don't have a partner at home.

But now, the kids are beginning to pick up serious chess skills, able to discuss strategies at length.

(Lisa Finn)

For example, third grader Michelangelo, 9, compared chess to sports, where you might be born with athletic ability and can improve with practice. As for chess, he said, "There's skill in it."

His older sister, Michelangelo said, who is a 9th grader in Southold Schools, introduced him to the game. Michelangelo then, with great thought, shared his secret strategy, which involves moving a pawn first and then shifting pieces, with the end goal of taking a competitor's rook — and then, the queen, leading to a checkmate.

When asked if he'd rather play a video game or chess, Michelangelo answered without hesitation. "Chess!" he said.

Brady Wilkins, chess advisor for Greenport skills and also an art and STEAM teacher, said he and co-advisor Jeanne McInnis see the kids improving their higher level thinking skills. Wilkins discussed how chess has opened the door for creativity to flourish.

He asked the kids, if they were to imbue their pieces with super powers, "what their super power piece would do. We're stirring the creativity pot," he said.

The Greenport club, he said, has 10 students involved.

Wilkins said since the club began, the kids have retained knowledge and skills, even after school breaks. As an educator, he said, he's thrilled to see the kids manipulating their pieces in an analog, rather than digital, fashion, not focused on phones or computer screens. "It's tactile," he said.

(Lisa Finn)

Wilkins has fond memories of playing chess with his stepfather, a detective sergeant with Nassau Police, who was both a hostage negotiator and narcotics officer. "He had great strategy," he said. "He totally beat me!"

Wilkins said often has the kids switch sides with their opponent so they can understand their opponents' strategies, too.

The kids, he said, have taught him lessons through their experience with chess. They've taught him patience, he said, and wowed him with their creativity.

McInnis said she's seen the children grow. "It's fun to see them excel at this, to see these kids blossoming," she said.

(Lisa Finn)

Jacob, 8, a second grader in Greenport, plays with his grandfather at home — and the life lessons are forever life-altering.

Jacob said he likes chess "unless it's too easy." Appreciating a challenge, Jacob said he particularly enjoyed a game with his grandfather that lasted for an hour and a half. "I told him he was moving into check mate but he still made the move. He should have moved back!" Jacob said — a boy who chose kindness, to warn his grandfather of the game-ending move, over competition.

Jacob, too, said he'd pick chess over video games.

Greenport Elementary School Principal Joseph Tsaveras said learning strategy was key. "It's all about strategy," he said.

And, he said, it's critical to get kids off their cell phones and engaging; the school implemented a Friday afternoon board game hour for just that purpose. "The phone is an informational piece. It's not a thinker," he said.

He spoke of a homeless 8-year old who recently became a New York City chess champion — a story of inspiration for all the chess club students, he said.

(Lisa Finn)

With an eye toward nurturing kids' creativity through outdoor play, both districts recently created launched afternoon "play clubs" to promote student wellness.

According to Gamberg, "An understanding of the importance of play in human development goes back as far as the late 1700s, when French Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau stated, 'You will never accomplish your design of forming sensible adults unless you begin by making playful children.'"

To that end, he said, both Southold and Greenport Schools have joined with dozens of other elementary schools around the United States to promote play through the Let Grow Play Club. According to its website, the Let Grow Play Club is "a program that gives kids the chance to organize their own games and fun, developing social skills."

Gamberg has long been a proponent of play and its invaluable gifts: In 2016, he launched a GoFundMe to raise funds for a "Magical Playscape" that's since been installed at Southold Elementary School. On Thursday, the large Mother Goose shoe was moved to allow for improvements to the play space.

"I think Albert Einstein said it best when he stated, 'Play is the highest form of research,'" Gamberg said. "I am firmly convinced that if we pay attention to giving children plenty of opportunities to play, we will ensure a better future for all they do in life."

Surveying the scene Thursday, with the kids stretched out in the sunshine, playing chess intently and with purpose, Gamberg smiled. "This is absolutely wonderful, absolutely thrilling."

The students from two districts were joined together in their shared love of chess, a game that is teaching them lessons, Gamberg said, about embracing "their reflective sides — about playing with care and thoughtfulness."

(Lisa Finn)