news-record.com

When the 36th annual State Scholastic Chess Championship wraps up today in Greensboro, the competition will include 11 students from Aycock Middle School’s chess club. The two-day event, which is sponsored by Elon University, is being held at the Koury Convention Center and brings together more than 500 of North Carolina’s top scholastic chess players. Players compete for the championship, as well as for trophies and a scholarship opportunity.

This is the first year the tournament has chosen Greensboro for the event.

Aycock’s chess club adviser, Lauren Smith, sees the competition as an important way for students to experience things beyond the norm.

“It provides them with an opportunity to compete with students outside their own club,” said Smith, who also teaches math. “It’s our hope that they will make some new friends, contacts and even learn some new strategies that they didn’t know before.”

Players for the state championship come from public, private and home-school environments throughout North Carolina and must be registered with the United States Chess Federation to participate. Players from kindergarten through 12th grade are represented. Local tournaments provide ratings to determine the level for which players register.

Aycock started its chess program about seven years ago, and Smith became the adviser last year. Her husband, Charlie Smith, an avid chess player, assists Smith. The club has steadily grown over the years and includes about 17 members.

“We have a strong sixth-grade presence because sports are not open to sixth graders, but clubs are,” Smith said. “Students compete against one another each week and learn strategies from one another, as well.”

The students compete twice a year in Guilford County-sponsored tournaments, and Smith hopes to take them to competitions outside the county.

Eighth-grader H’Liem has been a member of Aycock’s chess club for two years and enjoys learning from his mistakes and watching and learning from other players.

H’Liem is excited about participating in the state competition, especially after placing third in a county competition this fall.

“It’s really educational, and it helps me play with my mind,” he said. “I have to learn how to counter my opponent’s attack.”

H’Liem’s participation isn’t only advantageous for him but for his family, as well.

“I will be able to teach my brother, because it could help him with his education,” he said. “He sometimes gets distracted, and this would help him learn to focus.”

Sixth-grader Manuel Sosa, who joined the club this year, learned how to play chess from his brother.
“First, I played checkers, and then I went to chess, so it was pretty easy,” he said.

Smith sees the chess club as a great way to teach the children to think critically and strategically.

“It improves their cognitive skills and logical reasoning,” she said. “This will benefit them in all areas of life in the future and make them better students overall by encouraging them to think outside the box.”

Right now for Manuel, it’s all about sibling rivalry.

“I hope to get better, because my brother plays really good,” he said. “I want to beat him, because I never have.”

Contact Jennifer Atkins Brown at 574-5582 or jennifer.brown@news-record.com.