National
The road to a national tournament starts on the first day of school. Fifth graders at Ida Freeman have been waiting since first grade to reach the point in their life where they can do what every Ida Freeman kid wants to do: Go to chess club.
Ida Freeman chess players are firmly grounded
in the basics of the game. Opening principles, patience before moving, endgame
basics and, most of all, etiquette, will all be covered before the first report
cards come out. And, for these kids,
Chess is fun. This is just as important
as learning the fundamentals of playing the game. Children have to want to play to derive the benefits of the game.
At this school,
which has won state titles five times in the last seven years, the main hurdle
to be faced is how to raise the funds to get to the National Tournament. Depending on the destination, this can be a
daunting task. This year, the National Tournament was in
Luckily, these kids are not on their own. David Nichols, the chess coach at Ida Freeman from the beginning of time, is a veteran of two such trips, and knows what it takes to get things done. Add to this a very dedicated group of parents, known as the “Chess Boosters”. With an effort that begins the first month of the school year, these Boosters spend their every spare moment writing letters, making calls, and sharing with anyone who will listen, their personal excitement about their own little chess players. Every parent comes with ideas on how to raise funds, and some of them even work. Nearing the deadline for raising funds, and being only 10 percent toward our goal, our parents came up with some great ideas that salvaged our trip. Among the most successful fundraisers held this year were a family-and-friends-round-by-round-sponsored “Chess-A-Thon” and selling sponsor spots on our school-hosted State Tournament T-shirts.
All these kids have to do is concentrate on putting in the work necessary to become national championship caliber chess players. They certainly kept their part of the bargain.
With a previous
best finish of 29th in National Tournament play, one of OUR players
sat at the number two board in the last two rounds, and our team brought home
the trophy and the pride of the
By Stephanie Simmons – Ida Freeman Chess Club Organizer