Dino Vournas--Staff photos
Top, Chris Smith, 6, [Weibel] ponders a move during the Fremont Chess Club
Tournament. Above, Rich Mei, 8, gets down to eye level to plan his next move.
|
Kids check out action at chess
tournament
By Christine Young
STAFF WRITER
FREMONT - Sometimes all it takes is a
few chess boards to quiet a room of youngsters. About 50 kindergarten through sixth-grade
children gathered in the Fremont Community Center Wednesday night for the finale
of the fiveweek Fremont Chess Club Summer Scholastic tournament.
As the players got ready to face their opponents, Alan Kirshner, an Ohlone College
professor and a chess coach, gave them one final bit of advice-."No talking.
Chess is played silently."And they obeyed, each child concentrating on the pieces,
the moves and the board.Roman""You see how quiet these kids are. It's amazing,"
said
|
Pat Jackson, president of the Fremont Chess Club. "It teaches akid to be
responsible for his own decisions." TJ Weber, 12, certainly seems to have gained
a healthy sense ofperspective. "You might lose, youmight win. But everybody
loses and everybody wins. Nobody is thebest."Eleven competitors were presented
with trophies following Wednesday'stournament. The overall winners for those rated
by the United States Chess Federation are: Uri Shpiro, first; Joseph Lonsdale, second;
Kai Huang, third; Micah Fisher-Kirshner, fourth; and Tov Fisher-Kirshner,fifth. Unrated
overall winners are: Jack Canio, first; Jolly Ahluwalia,second; Albert M. Souchet,
third; Kevin Yin, fourth; and Adrian Freels,fifth. Dianna Ong won the award for best
upset.
|
|
