In a world of perpetual motion when patience is a premium, students at Bracebridge Public School (BPS) are slowing things down for an ancient game.

Chess is a regular event for more than 20 students who meet daily to play during morning snack breaks in preparation for the annual Trillium Lakelands District School Board Elementary Chess Championships, for Grades 1 through 8, hosted by Haliburton Friday.

Sixteen students from Grades 4 to 8 competed at the tournament to earn sixth place in a field of 12 schools that included more than 300 players.

Exceptional performances by Grade 8 student Dylan Nguyen and Grade 5 student William Harvey, who both finished with an unbeaten record of 5-0, earned top places in their grades and a berth to the Ontario Championships hosted by Toronto on April 13.

William has been competing since Grade 2 for the school and was surprised how well he performed.

“I was really happy,” he said. “I’ve always come in third (place). I just thought I’d come in third again.”

This was Dylan’s first TLDSB tournament, but he was the defending school champion. He said the tournament was fun, but challenging.

“It was a bit difficult,” he said. “I played my second last match and almost lost, but I won.”

Down by points, he managed to reclaim the points and take the game with a checkmate to win. This enabled him to continue to the next round and win his grade.

Since early February, students from Grades 4 to 8 played each other, passing along tips to one another in the endeavour to improve.

Coach Warren Brownlee, who leads both the junior (Grades 4, 5, 6, and 7) and intermediate (Grades 7/8) students since the regular junior coach was injured, believes chess is great for developing mathematics skills.

“It’s another outlet for some kids. Some kids who succeed at chess don’t succeed at other things. It’s a different way of succeeding,” he said.

Chess is beneficial for focus and he added he has never known a good chess player to be bad at mathematics. The logic inherent to the game lends itself well to the subject.

“Anytime you get a kid interested in something, then focus comes as a part of that,” he said. “In tournament chess it is touch moves, so if you touch a piece you have to move. You have to learn and think before you touch. The first thing any kid or anybody does in chess is they want to move the piece to see what it looks like and then realize I made a bad move and want to take it back. It teaches you to think inside your head better.”

The difference between juniors and intermediate players is the understanding of the pieces, the game and application of strategy.

Juniors play the game in a simple way, ignoring the importance of pawns and use the rooks first, ignoring knights until the end, he said.

“They like the simple pieces. They always move the rooks first,” he said. “They always pick the easy moves. They ignore things like knights and the things that are hard to move.”

Intermediate players are advanced in their ability to utilize the pieces in a variety of ways and methods to win, using the board and strategy.

Evan Downing, a Grade 7 student who has played since he was four years old, has been with the club for two years. He finished seventh in the tournament.

“Chess is a good game. It helps people. It’s a game for everyone and every age,” he said.

His first exposure to the game was with his dad who also played in high school.

Evan loves the strategy that is inherent with the game and the opportunities to learn new things, but more importantly pass them on to his brother Gregory, 8.

“Everything I learn I teach him,” he said, adding he is afraid he may get better than him, but still teaches him anyway.

Results

Grade 4: Shane Thomson 8th, 3 pts.; Andrew Bell 16th, 2.5 pts.; Jack Tiller 20th, 2 pts.; Kenni Farquhar – 27th, 1 pt.

Grade 5: William Harvey – 1st; Griffin Lambert – 9th, 3 pts.; Graydon Webb – 25th, 2 pts.; Matthew Jobson – 29th, 1.5  pts.

Grade 6: MacGregor Tannahill – 12th, 3 pts.; Kyle Kennedy – 22nd, 2 pts.; Brett Morris – 32nd, 1 pt.; Jory Farquhar – 33rd, 1 pt.

Grade 7: Evan Downing – 7th, 3.5 pts.; Cole Gibbs – 9th, 3 pts.; Thomas Erikson – 20th, 2 pts.; Matthew Bell – 24th, 1 pt.

Grade 8: Dylan Nguyen – 1st; Tyler Thomson – 10th, 2.5 pts.; Remy Davis – 12th, 2.5 pts., Miranda Rawn – 16th, 2 pts.