Tournament Results
SCDS Wins 6th Place at 2008 National Chess Championship
Members of the SCDS Chess Club had an outstanding life experience
in Pittsburgh May 8-12, competing in the 2008 National Scholastic
Chess Championship. Zeb Burke-Conte, Cameron Cummings, Noah Franklin,
Will Howie, Austin Li, and Mac Mowat joined approximately 2,500
elementary school students, representing hundreds of teams from
across the nation. Each child played a series of formal chess
games over several days, interspersed with loads of fun and frolic.
SCDS won 6th place in their kindergarten-through-3rd-grade
division—a
remarkable achievement because the team was very small compared
with many of those they faced. Hence, every SCDS child had to
do well – and they all did! Noah Franklin was especially
triumphant, winning all but one of his games, a feat achieved
by only a few competitors. The kids brought home a team trophy
the size of a small child, with confidence and lifelong memories
to go with it.
Beyond intellectual training, chess helps children
learn to win and lose gracefully, as communicated by Cameron. “My
most exhilarating game was a loss against a player who used a
super sophisticated opening trap that I had never seen before.” In
tournaments, they also gain experience competing both as individuals
and members of a team. As Austin wrote: “We wore specially
designed SCDS National Team T-shirts to the tournament. Even
though we all played individual games, we felt like a team because
we supported each other.”
SCDS shared a team room at the enormous Pittsburgh
Convention Center with two other schools from our state. Although
they are
rivals during the school year, Washington teams displayed state
pride, rooting for one another against faraway opponents. Our
two coaches gave rousing pep talks before rounds and analyzed
every move of each child’s game as soon as it was finished,
helping them learn from their mistakes. The kids also met famous
chess gurus, including Josh Waitzkin (featured in the movie “Searching
for Bobby Fischer”) and Susan Polgar (four-time world champion
female chess player).
Nationals was a blast beyond just serious chess,
however. Between matches, kids played casual chess for fun,
visited local attractions,
and had plenty of high-spirited play. “One of the nice
things about chess is that it has helped me make a lot of new
friends from other schools, as well as from SCDS,” Cameron
wrote. Austin echoed that sentiment. “The best part of
the trip was not the trophy that we brought home. The best part
was the opportunity to play chess with people from all over the
country.” Illustrating the fun, Cameron wrote: “At
the end of it all…..the kids from SCDS and Medina waged
a huge pillow war in Mac’s hotel room while our parents
were downstairs having dessert. That was a real highlight.”
Cameron and Austin summed things up nicely in
their journals. In Austin’s words: “After the last
round, it was the students’ turn to stand up on chairs.
Our coaches cheered for each one of us. “We have a winner!” they
would shout. I think all of us were winners because we all
tried our
hardest.” In Cameron’s words: “Nationals was
awesome, and I’d love to go again next year with even more
SCDS kids, so we’d do even better and have even more fun.
SCDS RULES!”
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