GUELPH – Chess players from each of the six Catholic elementary schools in Wellington County were bused to St. Peter Catholic School in Guelph for a board-wide chess tournament on March 1.
The top two players in every grade from 2 to 8 from 17 elementary schools had the opportunity to compete, with 230 students in total taking part.
The Catholic elementary schools in Wellington County are Sacred Heart in Rockwood, St. Joseph in Fergus, St. Mary in Elora, St. John Brebeuf in Erin, St. Mary in Mount Forest, and St. John in Arthur.
Karen Lombard, chess coach and kindergarten teacher at St. Mary Catholic School in Elora, said chess tournaments offer an “opportunity for (students) to shine,” and practice “skills like strategy, being a good team player, and winning and losing with grace.”
At St. Mary every game begins and ends with a handshake, she noted.
A few students from St. Mary who didn’t qualify to compete in the tournament attended as volunteers, meaning they still got to “shine and help out,” Lombard said.
Evelyn McLaren, a Grade 3 student at St. Mary, said she asked her dad to teach her to play chess after seeing her sister play.
“I really liked it,” McLaren said, so she decided to join the school chess club.
Referee and international arbiter Hal Bond watches closely as Vaughn Turner from St. Joseph Catholic School in Fergus approaches a tie with his opponent. Photo by Robin George
The chess club at St. Mary has over 100 students.
St. Joseph Catholic School in Fergus has a popular chess club too, with “a couple hundred kids,” said Grade 3 teacher Brian O’Donnell.
“We had to buy more boards because there were so many people,” he noted. “That was a good problem.”
O’Donnell said he’s a “big believer in extra curricular activities because they “add to the school community and flavour and let kids shine outside of the classroom.”
St. Joseph student Vaughn Turner ended his first game of the tournament in a tie.
“At the end I got him in check 50 times, but I couldn’t get him into check mate so it was a tie game,” Turner said.
Grade 4 students Kaden Strangherlin from St. Mary and Sullivan Skinner from St. Joseph finished in second and third place in their grade.
Tristan Costopoulos from St. John Brebeuf in Erin placed second out of the Grade 6 students.
In Grade 8, Jayden Steunebrink from St. John in Arthur placed second.
“The day really was a success, we worked to get as much participation in chess that we could,” stated convenor Bob Schmalz from Holy Trinity Catholic Elementary School.
“You come to an event like this and you see 230 kids all at tables, all quiet concentrated on the game. It’s such a unique experience … It’s just beautiful.”
Over 200 Grade 2 to Grade 8 students competed in the WCDSB board-wide chess tournament at St. Peters Catholic Elementary School in Guelph on March 1. Photo by Robin George
