Chess Tournament Held at Riverside MHS
The first Riverside Chess tournament wrapped up Tuesday, May 23, 2023 with Paxtyn Meek winning the best two out of three final matches against Dalton Schechinger. Earning third place was Logan Rouse, defeating 4th place Colton Hering.
The tournament idea came from quiz bowl members after seeing a bracket posted in the Underwood High School commons area. The Underwood quiz bowl coach/math teacher, Greg Bachman provided Riverside quiz bowl coach and gifted educator Bonnie Kramer with some general guidelines and tournament play began April 17. Thirty-six people, grades 6 through adult entered the tournament, which was played using the website Chess.com, or on chess boards donated for the occasion.
With the level of interest in the event, plans are being made to hold a tournament each semester, and possibly organize a chess club which would meet before school. According to an article from the National Scholastic Chess Foundation chess has many benefits including the following:
Encourage children to overcome the fear of risk-taking;
Help improve concentration and self-discipline;
Help cultivate visualization skills;
Help develop problem-solving skills;
Teach children to assume responsibility for their decisions.
Source: The benefits of chess in Education. National Scholastic Chess Foundation. (n.d.). https://nscfchess.org/chess-be...