Fellowship Paper

Chess Tournaments: A Tool for Student Success

By Jeremy Chiappetta

Prospect Hill Academy

Massachusetts Charter School Association

Fellowship Program

2004

Chess Tournaments: A Tool for Student Success

I. Introduction

The crowded hall is teeming with thousands of boys and girls from all over the country. For as far as the eye can see, children, as young as five and as old as about eighteen, are scurrying about the convention site. Youngsters gape at the mammoth trophies they hope to win later in the weekend. While Kindergartners point to prizes taller than themselves, parents wonder how they’ll fit such trophies in their suitcases. Spectators can almost feel the noise, and everyone can feel the tension. Then, in a sudden flurry, the competitors run to their seats, as if the music has stopped in a game of musical chairs. Conversations are hushed, and, a half-instant later, altogether muted. A booming voice from the far podium announces that players should shake hands, and begin. The audience witnesses what is seemingly impossible with such a large group of youngsters--absolute silence.

The United States Chess Federation’s National Scholastic Chess Championships is, perhaps, the culminating event in a young chess players “career.” Not unlike a major sports competition or academic Olympiad, many of the participants have spent the better part of their free time during the past school-year (for some, their lives) in preparation. By studying the previously played games of masters, solving difficult puzzles, competing in local and regional events, each hopes to gain the advantage needed to succeed. Many will shed tears of joy and disappointment over the course of the three-day tournament. “Post-mortem” analysis of the just completed games will highlight brilliancies, failures, and missed chances. To the outside observer (and the parents, teachers, coaches, and players with enough detachment to be objective), however, success occurred long before. As the late Hall of Fame tennis champion, Arthur Ashe was noted for saying, “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome, (www.basicquotations.com). By being in the room, by being focused enough to compete at these championships, every student, regardless of result, has achieved victory.

II. Why Chess?

Chess tournaments are a tool for developing healthy competition, sportsmanship, and inter- and intra-school community. They provide students with intellectually stimulating activities that extend beyond the classroom and into those times when youth are most at-risk (after-school, weekends, and school holidays).

Successful chess players demonstrate an ability to think critically, analyze situations, train their memory, and make decisions under pressure. Through tournament play, chess players also learn how to win and lose gracefully (and good coaches help students through such challenges); they learn to positively interact with fellow competitors regardless of age; and they learn that intellectual pursuits can be fun and cool. Further, research shows that chess improves reading scores and emotional intelligence (Marguiles 2004, 2).

Finally, chess tournaments bring together a community of adults, all in support of students. Parents, teachers, school volunteers, and students spend the tournament day together. Some adults play chess with the students. Others give lessons to them (to both their own students and competing players). Throughout the tournament, a culture of collaboration, support, and intellectual pursuit dominates the atmosphere.

Chess tournaments bring people together. They allow students to compete based on ability, regardless of school, grade, age, race, gender, or socio-economic background. Chess tournament competition helps to break down biases and stereotypes by showing that all students can learn and succeed based on preparation and study, not background. Chess also draws a population that crosses a wide range of interests and skills. While it’s not uncommon for a basketball player to play a game of chess, chess offers those who are less athletically inclined an opportunity to compete and interact with students from other schools and communities.

The primary goal of a chess tournament program is to create a fun and safe environment where students can participate in a critical thinking activity. But the benefits of chess extend far beyond chess club. As noted earlier, chess has been proven to improve reading scores. For some students, chess success leads to improved confidence (both socially and academically). For others, chess provides a focus that leads to improved attendance and fewer behavior problems at school. Still others find that through chess they are able to develop healthy relationships with adult coaches who provide mentorship and support (Ferguson n.d.). I’ve witnessed the positive impact chess has on students--improving self-esteem, engendering leadership and ability to compete, and just plain bringing about happiness.

Carlos Capellan, a New York City public school graduate, wrote his college application to Hamilton College about the impact chess had on his life. Later published in the New York Times, Carlos wrote:

Chess has kept me off the streets. It has challenged me and taught me to think in new ways. Because of chess, I was recently honored by The Daily News as one of the ''21 New Yorkers to Watch in the 21st Century.'' Chess has made me a mentor to younger students, giving me the chance to [impact them the way my coach impacted me]. (Cappellan 2000)

III. Organizing a Chess Club

The impact of a chess program on the culture of a school can be tremendous. In 1996, I founded a chess program at Intermediate School 90 in Washington Heights, New York. Quickly the chess program became a central focus of the entire school community and was embedded in school culture. During class breaks, students asked to bring chess sets out. During lunch, students played dozens of games in the cafeteria. Before school, after school, and on weekends, kids played chess. With athletic programs the exception, not the rule, chess provided the only opportunities for students to travel, compete for trophies, and meet others from across the city and the country. Most importantly, chess gave the school a rallying point, a cause for celebration. I’ve witnessed this at other schools with which I’ve worked as well.

While one does not need to be a chess expert to organize and moderate a chess club, simply offering after school chess play is rarely sufficient to develop a strong program. In my experience organizing and observing dozens of programs throughout New York City and elsewhere, the chess club period should have both individual lesson plans for a given day and a curriculum with goals for the school year (not unlike a classroom lesson). With some motivation, a basic understanding of the rules of the game of chess, and a library card, one can quickly become a star chess coach.

The actual structure of a chess club (or chess offerings) will vary due to the age and number of students, skill of the coach, and time available (some meet for two hours, three days a week, plus Saturdays!). Chess at Prospect Hill Academy (PHA), for example, began as a recreational activity, part of a “Student Life” class. Currently, Student Life is offered on a weekly basis and is organized by a PHA faculty member (who is not an expert in chess!). There are two sections of the course, a middle school section and a high school section. Both sections have approximately 15 students participating. Chess is one of several logical/intellectual games in which students participate during this class period (along with Scrabble, Mastermind, Connect Four, Checkers, and other games), and it continues to be the most popular.

PHA hosts an annual chess tournament (featuring 50 kids from more than 10 different schools, primarily charter schools), and I work with students to prepare for that event. We meet for 2-3 sessions (after school and on Saturday), and 2005 marks our 3^rd tournament. The structure at PHA is not the most typical, however. The one hour after school chess club practice session is what’s commonly offered. I’ve utilized and have seen the following structure for that model used successfully at a number of schools:

10 Minutes: Chess Challenge of the Day

Chess warmup equivalent to a “Do Now” (a warm up mental exercise that focuses everyone on the topic of the day). Provide each student with a series of chess puzzles (difficulty level and quantity of puzzles to increase over the course of the year). Allow students to work in pairs. Review solutions and discuss the most difficult puzzles. Some good sources of puzzles include Chess, 5,334 Problems, Combinations, and Games, by Laszlo Polgar; Chess Tactics for Students; by John Bain, and Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors, by Lou Hays.

20 Minutes: Lesson of the Day

Using a demonstration board and large chess pieces, spend time introducing a concept, idea, or strategy. Review the contents of the tournament rubric (see Appendix A), review the games of chess masters, or review the games of students (for all to see). Some excellent sources for games to review or chess lessons include, Comprehensive Chess Course--Seven Volumes, by Lev Albert (especially Volumes I and II); How to Beat Your Dad at Chess, by Murray Chandler; and Play Winning Chess, by Yasser Seirawan with Jeremy Silman.

30 Minutes: Structured Play and Free Play

Coaches should dedicate considerable time during each session to play. That does not mean, however, that the play should be always unstructured. Set up a ladder tournament (see “Tournament Formats,” later in this paper); have all students play starting from set positions, or allow free play.

IV. Organizing Chess Tournaments

Overview

Chess tournaments provide a healthy outlet for the study and focus that happens in a chess club. Even if a chess club is not intensive, or students do not even have a club to study with, a chess tournament offers great opportunities. Chess tournaments can take place with a variety of time controls and formats, allowing students to play a single game per meeting, many games in a single setting, or an the entire tournament, which takes weeks to complete. The chess tournaments that Prospect Hill Academy has hosted are single day events in which each player competes in four or five games.

Time Control

Many view chess as a game of significant deliberation and study, a game of patience. While some scholastic tournament games can be scheduled to last up to four hours, other games can be over in a handful of minutes, or less. Tournament directors can ensure that games finish in a timely fashion by setting a time control. Most scholastic tournaments are “game 30,” a.k.a. “G/30,” meaning each player has 30 minutes to make his or her moves, for a total of up to 60 minutes to complete the game. The Prospect Hill Academy tournaments have been at the G/30 time control, and while most of the matches are completed in well under an hour, some do last until the time limit.

Blitz tournaments, shorter games that give each side five minutes, thus referred to as “G/5,” are extremely exciting. Within the blink of an eye, the game might be over. Even so, these matches are less popular for tournament play for they offer participants little opportunity for deep thought. National Scholastic events sponsored by the United States Chess Federation are most often “25/60, SD/60,” which means each player must make at least 25 moves in 60 minutes, then has a “Sudden Death” time control of one hour to complete the game.

Chess tournament players use special chess clocks to keep track of time. Using the same hand that one has just moved a piece with, the player presses a button on the clock which simultaneously stops the countdown for his or her clock and starts the countdown for his or her opponent. Coaches should train students to be familiar with chess clocks. But for beginners they’re often an unnecessary expense (though they can be wonderful novelties); most students will play quickly enough that there is no need to use clocks to finish in a timely manner.

Tournament Formats

Note: These formats are common knowledge to those actively involved in scholastic chess competitions. For more details see the United Chess Federation’s Official Rules of Chess, listed on the Reference page of this paper.

1. Swiss: Perhaps the most common form of chess tournament, the Swiss-style chess tournament offers participants multiple matches in the same event, with the added bonus of producing both a single champion and a minimal number of participants who leave the tournament without experiencing a victory. While organizing the match-ups, or pairings, is most easily done by a computer software package (for example, SwissSys, www.swissyss.com), to fully appreciate this approach to competition, it’s important that the organizer understand the logic of the system. Players are assigned a ranking; this can be based on a published chess rating or on a ranking system designed by the tournament director. In the first round, the list of players is divided in two, with the top overall seeded player going against the top player from the “bottom half.” The second ranked player would compete against the second best player from the bottom half. For example:

The logic of this approach is that the tournament should avoid pairing off the two “best” players in the first match, yet not have “blowouts” by pairing off the very top and the very bottom players.

In the second round, the Swiss approach really kicks into gear. At this point players are organized into sub-groups based on their results from the first round. Normally, winners play against other winners from the first round. People who had draws or ties, play against others with draws or ties. And those who lost play against others who lost.

Subsequent rounds are organized similarly; thus by the fourth round, players 3-0 square off and players 0-3 compete. By facing more and more successful competition, the best players are continuously more challenged, and by playing against other players with similar results, the least skilled players get more and more likely to eek out a win. At the seven round 2003 National Elementary Championships, one division had 442 players, with only one of those players posting a perfect 7-0 score and only one with the opposite, a 0-7 finish (United States Chess Federation n.d. and www.alchess.com/chess/03/elem). Thus, 99.8% of the participants were able to walk away with pride and say they had won a game at the Elementary National Championships.

2. Team Swiss: The aforementioned Elementary National Championships was actually a Team Swiss event. The only difference between a Swiss and Team Swiss is that in the Team Swiss the pairings are set such that players do not compete against other players from their own team. Organizers, however, should turning off this restriction if by the final round the only undefeated players are from the same team (this often happens in smaller tournaments, so be careful!), enabling someone to get a trophy. Software programs (for example, as noted earlier, SwissSys) make toggling from Team Swiss to Swiss easy.

Large Swiss Team tournaments are most common at the scholastic level. Swiss Team provides an added benefit: team prizes can be awarded. Typically, we give something to all participants (ribbon, medal, chess set, items raffled off to those solving chess puzzles, etc.). But given that chess at the scholastic level is a team endeavor, by giving team prizes we promote camaraderie and support of the group. By setting the number of scores to count per team (at national events the top four players from each team count towards the team score), one can easily give both individual and team prizes.

The Prospect Hill Academy Charter School Chess Challenges have been Team Swiss events with two divisions: beginner and advanced. While the tournaments have only about fifty participants and four or five rounds, the effect is the same as at the larger events. Few walk away without a win to be proud of, and few are left undefeated.

3. Round-Robin: a straight-forward event in which all play all. Sometimes organizers bring together dozens of players and organize them into a handful of “quads.” Instead of one large tournament, say for 48 players, the structure is 12 mini-tournaments. This way, there is no clear overall winner; some prefer this system, as it enables (in this example), 12 individuals to earn first-place trophies.

Round-Robins, however, may not match players against others of similar ability. A player who goes 0-3 in his or her quad, may, in fact, have been good enough to go 3-0 in another quad.

4. Fixed-Roster Team: This is a popular structure, and I believe that it is one of the best ways for teams of schools to face off against one another. This format really fosters a sense of comradeship and support for team. Ideal for after-school challenges, each school picks a set number of competitors. Each player is assigned a Table number with each team’s top player at Table 1, the second best player at Table 2, etc. The teams then square off, playing one, or more often, two games against the same opponent. Each player plays both colors, and the director totals the wins to get the team score. Easy to organize, logical, and no computer required.

Organizers can expand the fixed-roster team format to include multiple teams all competing in a single tournament. While somewhat more difficult to organize (meaning, use a software application), the format is really just a blending of the Individual Swiss and the Fixed-Roster Team. Teams face off in Table order. After the first round, winning teams face off against winning teams, and losing teams against losing teams, and so forth.

5. Ladder: Ideal for clubs and intramurals, the ladder tournament is less a tournament and more an on-going team ranking. Names of players are written onto placards (or in chalk, as is often the case), and placed in a rank order with the best player at the top of the list. Players may “challenge” those above them to a head-to-head match, and the winner of the match either retains the higher position, or, if lower ranked, takes over the higher position, with the losing player moving to the lower position on the ladder. Over the course of the school year, with players constantly challenging one another, the strongest players rise to the top of the ladder. Many coaches set a rule that after the first week of the ladder, each player is limited to a set number of steps up the ladder that can be climbed in a single match; thus, players may only challenge those one or two steps above them. This helps prevent stronger players from getting bored (as they aren’t challenged by novices).

6. Elimination: An elimination tournament, akin to the NCAA basketball tournament, is in my opinion a flawed way to approach organizing a chess event. While the purpose of the NCAAs is to crown a single champion, with half the teams playing but one game, the scholastic chess tournament has the aim of providing students with the opportunity to think, interact, and have fun. If half of the students lose their first game and go home, their interest in on-going chess study wanes quickly.

V. Materials

Those organizing a chess tournament should have the following materials:

• Tournament Site: School cafeterias are often perfect locations for chess events. Tables are already in place; classrooms are often readily available for students to “retire to” after finishing each round of competition, and cafeterias are often available free of charge. Chess-in-the-Schools (an educational nonprofit dedicated to teaching chess in New York City public schools) runs dozens of tournaments each year, most of which take place in school cafeterias. They do solicit sponsors to host events in wonderful public spaces (museum halls, churches, zoos, parks, etc.), and there is no reason that this cannot be done here in Massachusetts.
• Tables, Table Number Labels, and Chairs: Computer systems assign players to sit at particular tables for each round of games; numbering the tables in advance avoids many headaches. If playing in a cafeteria, the organizer can simply label each playing area with a number. If organizing an event that requires table rental, try to use eight foot rectangular tables that comfortably accommodate three chess sets, or six players.
• Chess Sets: Even though you should instruct players to bring chess sets (just in case there is a greater-than-expected turnout), you should have at least enough chess sets for every participant to compete simultaneously. Additional chess sets should be provided for players to use for “skittles” (chess lingo for unofficial practice games played between official games), which give participants something to do, keeping them productively occupied during their down-time.
• Score Sheets: Students should be encouraged to notate, or write down, the moves that take place during their games (see attached score sheet, Appendix B). Notating games has the dual benefit of slowing players down--helping them think more critically about each move--and providing a record of the moves, which both helps resolve disputes and provides material to study and review after the game.
• Chess Clocks: Tournament directors should have clocks available. They help bring parity to the time in play and are useful in tournament games that are lagging.
• Computer & Peripherals: A computer, a software program, printer, ink cartridge (bring backup), and paper are critical for large tournaments.
• Name Tags, T-shirts for Tournament Director (TD) and Players, etc: Providing some way of clearly identifying staff (both for the student players and the parents and coaches) helps participants quickly identify those who can resolve disputes.
• Prizes: Trophies, plaques, medals, chess sets, t-shirts, and books all make excellent prizes. Depending on the budget, giving all participants some type of memento from the tournament often helps bring about high levels of participation and retention of players. Further, as prizes are brought back to the host schools, a culture of chess is promoted.
• United States Chess Federation Rulebook: This is good to have on hand in order to solve disputes. Often, heated arguments are quickly resolved by having the parties read for themselves the rules of the game.

VI. Miscellaneous Tournament Organization Tips

• Announce tournament date at least six weeks in advance. School calendars are difficult to manage as it is; trying to find a perfect date is nearly impossible, but advance notice will allow potential participants to prioritize their calendars. Distribute fliers that can be posted (see Appendix C).
• Distribute a Chess Tournament Registration Form to the schools that will participate, and ask them to fill it in (indicating players, ages, abilities, and contact information; see Appendix D) and return it to you.
• Review chess rules with participants prior to the start of the tournament. Especially review the “touch-move rule” (If you touch your piece, you must move it if you can make a legal move; if you touch your opponents’ piece, you must capture it if you can do so legally). Also remind players how they should submit the results of the game to the tournament directors.
• During the first round of the tournament, meet with parents and coaches to provide and overview of the day and encourage them to raise concerns as they arise. Review building and competition rules (see Appendix E). Encourage parents and coaches to exchange contact information so they can directly arrange practices.

VII. Resources

• US Chess Federation (USCF): oversees official chess tournaments in the United States, including the state, regional, and national scholastic championships. The USCF provides funding through the US Chess Trust (www.uschess.org).
• US Chess Trust of the United States Chess Federation: provides materials, US Chess Federation Memberships, and advice for scholastic chess programs (http://www.uschess.org/org/patrons1.php).
• Massachusetts Chess Association: organizes a number of scholastic chess tournaments and helps identify coaches for schools (www.masschess.org).
• Boylston Chess Club (BCC): a historic chess club now based in Somerville, MA, the BCC hosts a number of chess tournaments, often with special rates for scholastic players (world.std.com/~boylston/).
• Chess-in-the-Schools (CIS): manages an in-school instructional program, after-school programs, and tournament programs in over 100 New York City public schools. CIS is currently working with other school districts across the country (including PHA in Massachusetts) to help train teachers and design chess curriculum (www.chessintheschools.org).

Conclusion

Prospect Hill Academy Charter School launched its inaugural chess challenge in April of 2003. In May, 2004, Prospect Hill hosted its second annual challenge, and we plan to continue offering an annual chess event. During each tournament, teachers and parents asked that we organize more events. Additionally, several charter school educators have requested assistance in hosting similar chess tournaments for the scholastic community. With the proper encouragement and support, chess can and will take root in the Massachusetts scholastic community, bringing its benefits to thousands of students throughout the Commonwealth.

About the Author

Jeremy Chiappetta began his career as an American social studies teacher in New York City. He founded his school’s chess program, and, in his second year of teaching, the team won a national scholastic chess championship. He later served as the Deputy Director of Chess-in-the-Schools, a nonprofit focused on using chess as a tool to help thousands of New York City public school students grow intellectually and socially. Chiappetta most recently worked as a strategy consultant for IBM’s Business Consulting Services where he developed business and technology solutions for a variety of private sector firms. He volunteers at Prospect Hill Academy Charter School, helping them organize scholastic chess tournaments and is currently working for the Superintendent of Providence Public School Department as a Broad Resident (www.broadresidency.org). Chiappetta holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from Yale University.

Appendix A: Chess Tournament Rubric

All players:

Must be able to do the following:

• Properly move all of the chess pieces
• Understand pawn promotion
• Understand rules for “advanced” moves: Castling and en passant capture (note: en passant is tough to teach, but please present it to your players, so all players are exposed to this move prior to the tournament)
• Understand Check and the ways to get out of check (move, block, capture)
• Understand Checkmate
• Understand the “touch-move” rule

Beginner Players:

Should also:

• Understand the relative value of the pieces (Q=9, R=5, B=3, Kn=3, P=1)
• Know how to achieve and stop “Scholar’s Mate” (the “four-move mate”)
• Be able to solve “mate-in-one” chess puzzles
• Have a sense of how to checkmate with a King and Queen vs. a lone King
• NOT be a rated United States Chess Federation tournament player

Advanced Players:

Should also (but not required):

• Have some experience playing in chess tournaments (either in school or outside of school)
• Have a basic understanding of chess strategy including opening play
• Have a basic understanding of chess tactics including pins, forks, skewers
• Be able to solve “mate-in-two” chess puzzles
• Be able to mate with a King and Queen vs. a long king
• Have a sense of how to mate with a King and Rook or a King and 2 Bishops v. a lone king
• Know how to record the moves of a chess game
• Know how to play with a chess clock

Note to Coaches:

As this tournament will be a first for many players, including beginners and advanced, we request that you split your team such that at least some of them play in the advanced division, in order to keep the field balanced for everyone

If you need help developing a coaching strategy, please feel free to contact Jeremy Chiappetta at chess@prospecthillacademy.org or jeremy_chiappetta@hotmail.com

Appendix B: Chess Tournament Score Sheet

White Player: ________________     Black Player: _______________

Appendix C: Chess Tournament Flier

Appendix D: Prospect Hill Academy Chess Tournament Registration Form

Prospect Hill Academy Charter School Chess Challenge: May 1, 2004

School: ____________________________   Chess Contact: _____________________________

Email: ____________________________     Phone: __________________________

Please complete this form (or provide same information in an email) and return by Friday, April, 23

Somerville Charter – Attention CHESS, 50 Essex Street, Cambridge, MA 02139; chess@prospecthillacademy.org

Appendix E: Tournament Rules

Prospect Hill Academy

Charter School Chess Challenge

Rules and Regulations

Description: This is a four round individual chess tournament; sections will likely include K-8 Novice, K-8 Advanced, High School Novice, High School Advanced. If you are assigned to play a teammate, please let the Tournament Director (TD) know before you start your game (in some cases we may make you play a teammate, but check with us first!). Game in 30 minutes.

Prizes: Trophies or medals will be given to the top 5 places in each section; and a medal will be given to all scoring 2.5 or more that don’t win a trophy. Team prizes will also be awarded.

YOU MUST: BOTH players are required to post their result! Please make sure to mark your result after your game. Failure to do so may result in forfeiting the rest of your games.

Playoffs: All players undefeated 4-0 after the 4^th round will play a blitz playoff (5 minute chess, with clocks) against other undefeated 4-0 players. Other ties will be determined by Standard USCF Tiebreak Methods. See USCF Rules, 4^th Edition.

Important reminders for players:

1. You have the right to appeal a decision of a floor TD. If you wish to see the Chief TD, tell the floor TD right away. DO NOT wait until after the game is over to make this complaint.
2. Touch-move at all times; if adjusting, announce, “I adjust” BEFORE making an adjustment.
3. Notate games (write the moves of both players) or else risk losing ability to make many claims (i.e. draw by triple occurrence)
4. When finished with game, shake hands, reset the chessboard, post result, and leave the playing area.
5. The playing area must remain quiet while games are in progress. No talking during play.
6. Please clean your area before leaving.
7. Parents and coaches are spectators. Your help is very important to us, but you may not interfere with the chess games.
8. Have FUN!

Absolutely no running or horseplay will be tolerated!

References

Capellan, Carlos. 2000. First Person: Teaching Chess, and Life. New York Times Late Edition. Sept 3. Sec 14, Col 1, p. 11.

Chess Improves Children’s Reading Scores. n.d. Retrieved 1 July 2004 from the Chess in the Schools Web site: www.chessintheschools.org/research.html

Ferguson, Dr. Robert C. n.d. Teacher’s Guide: Research and Benefits of Chess. Retrieved 4 November 2004 from the Quad City Chess Web site: www.quadcitychess.com/benefits_of_chess.html.

Marguiles, Dr. Stuart. 1996. Chess and Reading Scores and Chess and Emotional Intelligence. Photocopied.

United States Chess Federation. Articles/News. Retrieved 1 July 2004 from the U.S. Chess Federation Web site: www.nscfchess.org/nscfnews.htm

United States Chess Federation. 2003. United States Chess Federation’s Official Rules of Chess, Fifth Edition. New York: Random House.