Students put chess to the test on Owatonna

Nelson Jourdan, who won the chess club tournament at Willow Creek Intermediate School poses with the top players from both the championship bracket and the consolation bracket

Steve Stansberry, the advisor of the chess club, said a variety of kids turned out for the chess club this year, even though the meetings were moved from the noon hour to an after-school time slot.

“It was kind of a mixture again,” said Stansberry.

The club of about 15 students included many kids who were friends and some who didn’t know each other. Three girls also gave the boys some strong strategic competition.

“We started off with just some basics and some lessons,” said Stansberry.

But he said the kids were very accomplished chess players for their age, and working through computer software modeled after the Kids Chess Academy, some of the players took it upon themselves to learn combination moves.

Stansberry said the Web site the children learned with includes both tutorials and competition components. But he said when it came to the competition, he encouraged the kids to challenge each other.

“My focus is to try to get kids to be interactive,” said Stansberry.

He said they built on each others’ strengths, pointing out better moves and working with their opponents during the practice games.

As the end of February slipped onto the board, however, the kids prepared to take each other on in a double-elimination tournament. Because of the limitations on time, the students had to play each game within small time slots.

“We had 15 minutes to play,” said Chase Smith, a sixth-grader at Willow Creek.

Chase came out to recount the details of the tournament on Friday with his friends Jordan Quast and Nelson Jourdan. They looked at each other, saying things like “He always wins.” But in reality the competition was stiff on both sides of the board during the tournament.

“We had some really good competition,” said Stansberry. “One thing that was unique this year was that we had a lot of stalemates.”

Much to the boys’ dismay, the prize for first place in the consolation bracket was taken by sixth-grader Darcie Tokar. But the winner of the tournament and the recipient of the chess club trophy was Nelson Jourdan.

“I’ve been playing chess since I was 7 years old,” said Nelson.

Nelson did not reveal his best strategies for capturing the king or his secret for overtaking his opponents, but he did hold the trophy proudly as he posed with his fellow club members for a photo on Friday.

“The kids are pretty savvy,” said Stansberry.

Melissa Kaelin can be reached at 444-2372.

Share:

Digg

Guidelines: Welcome to the Owatonna People's Press community. Please keep your comments civil. Don't attack other readers personally and keep your language decent. If you would like to report abuse click here to notify us.
Member Opinions: By: NoteTaker on 3/9/10 Another great example, I think, of helping kids develop sound logic and analytical skills. Thanks to both Mr. Stansberry for undertaking such a worthwhile endeavor and the kids who participated. I hope you all will continue to enjoy Chess and the mental challenges it offers and teaches.
Login and voice your opinion!