Chess becoming game of choice among Galion youth

MANSFIELD – The "game of kings" is now ruled by the tiniest of masters.

Fifty-two students in grades 3-5 joined Galion's first chess club — Paws on Pawns — and battle each other for an hour after school every Thursday at the Intermediate school.

The game has since leaked into indoor recess and late into the after school hours, where students challenge each other through a chess app on their iPads, school Intervention Specialist and club co-adviser Bryan Summer said.

"You forget how fast kids learn sometimes," Summer said. " After a few videos they just really took off."

Practice sessions begin with a 15-minute lesson about the game, and then students play chess for the remainder of the scheduled time. Most of the students had never played before.

A friendly, competitive nature was the first thing they learned — "Every game starts and ends with a handshake," adviser Adam Lehman reminded students as they paired off.

Chess wasn't entirely new to Jullian Diaz.

The 9-year-old said he had been challenging his family members to games since he was 3, but he relished the idea of taking on new opponents. Jaxon Oehler, 10, was his opponent Thursday, and he was putting on the pressure.

"Why do you have a keen eye on that queen?" Diaz asked before being defeated and starting a new game (which he went on to win).

The queen is the strongest piece and should be protected above all others, aside from the king that is, Diaz explained matter-of-factly. The queen also happens to be his favorite piece for her versatility, he said.

That is something he has in common with 8-year-old Miranda Stone. She also likes to involve her strong pieces — queen, knights, bishops and rooks — early in the game.

Every move her opponent makes, she needs to be prepared to counter, she said.

"It's a pretty hard game," Stone said during a two-minute battle as her opponent chased her king around the board before they called stalemate and started over. "You have to figure out where each of his pieces can go."

That's the type of strategic and critical thinking Lehman and Summer hoped the game would spark in their students.

"The analytic skills that you get from chess ... is something you can't learn in the everyday school day," Lehman said. "Chess is also proven to improve testing skills."

One of the ways they plan to improve critical thinking skills is by challenging participants in new ways. Instead of starting a new game with each opponent they face, Summer said they will ask participants to switch partners and boards and start the game from where the former players left off.

Some of the players' skills have already far exceeded their expectations for their first year, Lehman said. Eventually, they hope to incorporate tournaments into the program.

The club will shut down for the year come March, but it will resume next winter, Summer said. By then, he hopes to have secured sponsors or grants to purchase more high-quality boards, like the five the United States Chess Federation donated.

Galion Elementary Parent Teacher Organization purchased the remaining 25 boards they use to practice.

"Aside from the academic benefits, I've seen this helping them socially," Summer said. "They talk more when it's one-on-one. We'll definitely bring this back."

kdurbin@nncogannet.com

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Twitter: @njKaitlinDurbin