The robust turnout for a kids chess tournament in northeast Colorado Springs has event officials feeling optimistic about the growing popularity of the game.

Nearly 80 young competitors spent their Saturday at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church to play in the Scholastic Chess Tournament, an informal, unrated competition designed to help players from kindergarten through eighth grade sharpen their skills. Tournament organizers also want to nurture a chess culture in the Colorado Springs area.

People have been playing chess, which was invented in India, for more than 1,500 years. But in 2020, two events contributed to a surge in the games popularity in the U.S. and abroad.

Pikes Peak Library District patrons are borrowing electronic materials in steadily increasing numbers and have reached a major usage milestone

The COVID-19 pandemic forced school closures, made people go out in public with their lower faces covered like Wild West stagecoach bandits, and altered everyday life for at least two years. But it also brought an increase in online chess participation, according to Chess.com.

Rebecca Graham, a tournament coordinator whose three children competed, said that during the pandemic her son, Caleb, learned the nuances of the game while playing with his grandfather, who has polio.

Saturdays competition was a Swiss tournament, a round-robin series of games where no one is eliminated. The player with the most points at the end is the winner.

Krish Ravi placed first in the K-3 division. Diya Thoutem won all five of her games to garner the First Place trophy in the Grade 4-8 division. Caleb Graham, Rebeccas son, placed second.

My father couldnt run around and play with the grandkids because of his condition, Graham said. But chess was something they could do together.

Also in 2020, Netflix released The Queens Gambit, a hugely popular miniseries that led to a spike in chess set sales and online chess platform registrations.

A typical day for Dacia Loconte begins well before sunrise, while most of her Mesa Ridge High School classmates are still asleep. A competitiv

Most of the kids here are a little young to watch The Queens Gambit, but theres no denying that the show has had an effect on the popularity of the game, said Earle Wikle, president of the Colorado State Chess Association and tournament director.

Because her kids school didnt have a chess club and because Caleb and Katelyn have become too competitive to play against each other Graham decided to start an informal chess group by extending a social media invitation to some local parents. The turnout, she said, was stunning.

It was just a little mom blog on Facebook, she said. We had 40 kids show up!

I think its funny that my wife accidentally started a chess club, just because she wanted to find some kids to play with ours, said Jason Graham, Rebeccas husband.

Library 21c is where Graham met Wikle, a chess instructor and former candidate master-level player.

We kind of ran into each other when I was giving lessons one day, Wikle said. Now, were running tournaments together.

In 1898, William McKinley was president of the United States. Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii had yet to be admitted to the U

Saturdays tournament was split into two divisions kindergarten through third grade, and fourththrough eighth with trophies for the top players in each division and several prizes.

Official tournaments are really structured and a little subdued, and they kind of need to be, Graham said. We wanted something a little more fun and festive.

Chess advocates say that, in addition to being fun, the game helps kids develop valuable skills, including critical thinking, visualization, planning and problem solving. According to tournament organizer George Krasnopolskiy, sportsmanship is also a key component of the game.

It teaches kids that losing is not the end of the world, and it teaches them how to win gracefully, said Krasnopolskiy, who was born in Russia. The kids dont even have to speak the same language as the kids theyre playing against, because chess is a universal language.

According to the National Scholastic Chess Foundation, the game also helps with academic development, particularly in math.

Saturdays competition was a Swiss tournament, a round-robin series of games where no one is eliminated. The player with the most points at the end is the winner.

Krish Ravi placed first in the K-3 division. Diya Thoutem won all five of her games to garner the first-place trophy in the grade 4-8 division. Caleb Graham, Rebeccas son, placed second.

I like that age doesnt matter in chess, Caleb said. You can play someone whos 8, or you can play someone whos 80.

I love that whenever I lose, I get to learn something, a new strategy or tactic, said Thoutem, who was also named the tournaments Queen of Chess. And when I win, I feel happy.

Krasnopolskiy said he hopes the accessibility of chess will continue to draw young people to the game.

When we came to this country, we didnt really have any money, so there were a lot of activities we couldnt participate in, he said. If you wanted to play on a football team, you had to pay for pads. For hockey, you needed skates. For baseball, you needed cleats and a glove. But a standard chess set doesnt cost much. Chess is completely accessible.

Originally posted here:

Chess surge in Colorado Springs? - Colorado Springs Gazette