Published: November 21, 2006 11:24 am      

Chess brings students to Edmond tourney

EDMOND — Sixty schools represented by 248 students descended upon Ida Freeman Elementary Saturday for the largest chess tournament ever in the state of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Scholastic Chess Organization’s tournament was to determine State Grade Championships. Ida Freeman walked away with state championship teams for both the fifth and third grades. Fourth-grade students placed second.

“It was a mad house but great fun,” Ida Freeman’s chess coach David Nichols said.

The remarkable thing was the third graders showed up Thursday wanting to enter the Saturday tourney and then walked away with the top team award for their grade level.

“In addition, three players who played on Ida Freeman’s fifth-grade team last year won the Sixth Grade State Team award for Central Middle School,” Nichols said.

The fifth-grade section had 67 players with 45 from Ida Freeman.

“Fourteen of the top 20 best players in the state were from Ida Freeman,” Nichols said, “and six of the top 10 were also from Ida Freeman.”

One other team entered from Edmond was Chisholm Elementary and individuals from Sequoyah and Northern Hills also entered.

“In our building kids play a lot,” Nichols said. “Chess club has provided chess boards for all levels. Teachers ask for them for indoor recess time on rainy days.”

The popularity of this club that only fifth graders may join is limited only by the time available for the coach.

“In an informal survey last year with first through fifth graders, we found if we opened our club up to everyone interested we would have 325 members,” Nichols said.

Fifth-grade chess club members meet Wednesday and Thursday during lunch and recess.

“We have about 65 students in fifth grade and 52 are in chess club,” he said.

The library is open from 8-8:30 a.m. each morning and fourth and fifth graders may come and play then.

“We are almost half-way through our season,” Nichols said. “Dec. 16 we will be in Claremore for the Claremore Holiday Open.

“We will be back in Claremore in March for the State Scholastic Championships.”

One tournament is played each month between Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

The Ida Freeman team plans on participating in the National Chess Championship in Nashville in May.

“We will be taking the top 24 players,” Nichols said.

The team raises money all year to pay the ways of the players. They sponsor an El Chico Night for Open House in February, host a Chess-a-Thon in April where students find sponsors and the students then play 100 games of speed chess in three hours.

“We also solicit funds from corporate and private organizations to help support us,” Nichols said. “Our team finished fourth in the country last year and second in the nation in 2004.

“We really think we have a good chance at a national championship this year.”