Kids on the chess boards

Youths battle on chessboards
by Johnny Buck
published January 5, 2008 3:44 pm

ASHEVILLE – William Goss studied the chessboard before him, brow furrowed with concentration. Slowly, he brought his hand forward, advanced a piece and sat back in his chair, a satisfied look upon his 8-year-old face.

Goss, a 3rd-grader from Avery’s Creek Elementary School, was one of 125 participants in Pawndemonium XIX, a kids’ chess tournament held Saturday at the Montford Community Center.

Goss began playing chess four years ago, and his persistence has paid dividends.

“I started out not knowing what I (was doing), and then I got better by losing. Somehow I learned more by losing than I did by winning,” Goss said. “I enjoy pretty much all of it. You have to use your mind to win, and when you see (a good move on the board) you just get so happy.”

The Kiwanis Club of Asheville sponsors Pawndemonium once a year. Ned Cabaniss, leader of the club’s chess program, said the sport could enhance scholastic performance.

“We see chess as an activity that improves kids’ focus and concentration, and their general ability to function well in an academic environment,” he explained. “So we think the chess tournament promotes chess playing among kids, and we think that’s good for them.”

That sentiment was shared by many of the parents in attendance, including Kelly Morris, who brought daughter Destiny Plemmons to Saturday’s event.

“She learns to sit still, to concentrate, and that’s helped her in school tremendously,” Morris said of her 9-year-old daughter. “But she’s also part of a team, and that’s helped her to learn to lose as well as win. And that’s been a (positive) experience for her.”

Here is the full story.