ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 1, 1996 TAG: 9606030031
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PEARISBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
Most Friday mornings, the only sound heard bouncing down the quiet hallways of Macy McClaugherty Elementary School is a tap, tap, tap.
Chess pieces, placed deliberately by stone-faced players who stare intently at the black and white squares, quickly get moved around the board.
The players make their moves with confidence, tapping the time clock every few moments. Many of the competitors are nationally ranked; most usually play - and beat - adults.
Some have to kneel on their chairs just to reach the pieces.
This team of elementary school-age chess whizzes, some as young as 5 years old, have competed against children twice their age, and won.
At a national competition in Orlando, Fla., that pitted children from kindergarten through ninth grade, they placed fifth overall.
Last month, at the largest national chess tournament ever held in Tucson, Ariz., members of the team placed third in the kindergarten through sixth-grade division.
And, for the third year in a row, they're the state champions in the elementary school age division.
Steve Austin, who volunteers his time with the chess team, said chess fever has spread rapidly to boys and girls across the country.
Schools in New York, for example, require chess as part of the elementary classroom day. Some even bring in chess masters each week to train the tots.
In Giles County, a tutor comes up from Roanoke once a month. Otherwise, the students get experience through playing each other. And, they often challenge themselves by playing adults, such as the Virginia Tech Chess Team, parents or anyone brave enough to sit down and potentially get clobbered.
Courtney Olsen, a sixth-grader, started to play when the club formed seven years ago. The best part of playing, she said, is the travel.
As a member of the U.S. Chess Team, she's quite a globe-trotter. Last year, she traveled to Hungary to compete; this summer, she'll head to Spain.
In competition, the students must complete a game in two hours, and 25 moves must be made in the first hour. They note each move made, and later analyze the games with Austin.
Aside from improving math skills, chess helps kids learn to organize and plan ahead. Austin said some of the team members can play 10 moves deep. (That's chess lingo for thinking long term.)
His son, Brad, who's in the sixth grade, has been known to sit in games for more than three hours.
"He can't usually sit without a ball or something in his hand for more than a few minutes," Austin said.
Kaye Harry, mother of third-grader Christian, said she's noticed improvements in his grades, and his self-confidence.
"He used to be so timid and shy - not anymore. He's confident and outgoing," she said.
The group holds fund-raisers to pay for equipment and team trophies. Parents fund most of the trips themselves and take the whole family on chess road trips.
Next year, the national competition will be in Knoxville, Tenn. Austin said they plan to take the whole team - about 30 members - down to compete.
"It's called the Super Nationals and they're expecting 5,000 players," Austin said. Can the team defeat that many chess whizzes?
"We're sure going to try," he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Lisa Applegate. Second grader Heather Tickle makes herby CNBmove as teammates Christian Harry and Roberta Dickerson watch.
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