City Holds U.S. in Check
- NY CULTURE
- MAY 14, 2011
DALLAS—When 10-year-old Drew French slid his rook down the center of the board to checkmate his opponent, it sealed the victory for his P.S. 166 team during last weekend’s National Elementary School Chess Championships. And the Manhattan school wasn’t the only one to bring a trophy back to the five boroughs: City schools finished on top in five out of nine sections.
“New York teams are so dominant, they might as well call this the state championships,” Matthew Noble, a chess coach at a school in Tucson, said during the tournament in Dallas.
The city’s chess prowess extends to all grades. At the junior high championships in April, New York City schools claimed first and third in the top level and won three of the remaining five sections. When high schools from across the country faced off in Nashville earlier this month, traditional chess powerhouses Hunter College High School, Brooklyn’s I.S. 318 and the Bronx High School of Science took the three top spots in the highest level of play.
New York’s best grade school team demonstrated just how powerful the city’s scholastic chess scene has become with an extraordinary feat: besting accomplished opponents nearly twice their age. The Panda Pawns from P.S. 124 in Manhattan’s Chinatown won top honors in the second-toughest division at the national high school championship.
“It’s kind of awkward,” said Sean Chung, 10 years old, who stands all of 4-foot-6. “Everyone else is much taller than us.” One of the senior members of the Panda Pawns, Sean went undefeated in the three-day tournament, winning five games and taking two draws.
Competing at the high school level wasn’t a move P.S. 124 wanted to make. After defeating the Dalton School to become statewide champions at the elementary level, the team had its sights set on beating peers at nationals. But the dates of the grade school tournament conflicted with a mandatory state test. The test date was changed after plane tickets to Nashville had already been purchased, so the team went ahead with its backup plan.
Full article here.
Way to go! Nice job kids!