Knights of the Square
Table
Bridgewater Elementary School
Chess Club
Introduction
Welcome to the BES chess club page. We are the Knights of the Square Table.
Our school has had a chess club since 1979. We have an annual trophy that has
been presented since that time, to the top three players in the school, although
there was a decade or so when the club was not very active.
Our club is based on fun and participation! We don’t keep track of who wins a
particular game, we simply enjoy the opportunity to play chess. We have well
over 100 students who play in the chess club weekly. The club starts in the fall
and concludes at the March break. Most of our players participate in at least
one tournament per year and have a national chess rating.
However, we do have some players who enjoy competing at tournaments on a regular
basis. We are home to the Nova Scotia School Chess Team champions for Grades 4
and Under, as well as Grades 6 and Under !
Chess Instruction
In our school, we teach all of the grade three students how to play chess as
part of their math curriculum. This involves half a dozen lessons in the fall,
with our principal, Mr. Landry. Chess is taught to over one hundred thousand
students throughout North America. There is considerable research, including a
well known study by computer giant, IBM, that supports chess instruction as a
means to improve the academic performance of students.
Chess is based on relationships between points and lines, and operates on an
abstract set of rules.
The program outcomes seek to develop our students’ abilities in the areas of:
spatial reasoning
strategic inquiry
complex memory structure
evaluative processes
sequential patterning
logical thinking
critical analysis
In an enriched, problem solving context that is highly motivating to students!
Resources
Web Site
A good chess web site, with links to others that would be of interest to
elementary students, is the Nova Scotia Scholastic Chess Association (NSSCA)
site, which is http://www.nssca.org
Library Resources
We have ordered some new chess books for the school library and subscribe to a
chess magazine for students, “Scholar’s Mate”, which is available for sign
out. It has some excellent tips on how to improve your chess game. I
particularly recommend the checkmate puzzles found in the magazine.
Club and Tournaments
I enjoy the opportunity to host a chess club at our school. It is great to see
students enjoy chess so much, and to have the opportunity to play other students
at various grade levels. Along with reading, sports, music, etc., chess is an
excellent way for young people to spend their time!
BES Championships
We have an awesome knights trophy
that is presented annually to our top chess players in the school. The
trophy was first awarded in 1979. After a decade on inactivity our club
began again and the trophy has been presented each year since that time.
The competition is open to all students and usually fifty or sixty register to
play each year.
1998
1. James Buranyi
2. Anthony Sampson
3. Chad Furey
1999
1. Chad Furey
2. Hugo Lai
3. Spencer Landry
2000
1. Hugo Lai
2. Spencer Landry
3. Andrew Rhodeizer
Tournament Results 99/00
Our players have done well in scholastic chess tournaments in Nova Scotia.
We hosted a monthly NS Scholastic Chess tournament in January, with the help of
Jeff Coakley of the NSSCA, and local chess enthusiasts, Brian Burgess and Steve
Saunders. In March, we hosted the Southwest Regional Scholastic Chess Challenge.
This tournament is organized by grade level. We placed 21 students in the top
half for their specific grade, which allowed them to qualify for provincials.
At the Nova Scotia Scholastic Chess Challenge, held in April in Halifax,
the following students from our club “placed”:
Gr. Pr./One 2nd Kevin MacLean
Gr. Two 1st Spencer Landry
4th Alyssa MacLean
Gr. Three 3rd Cory Mader
4th David Cote
Gr. Four 4th Kendall Thompson
Gr. Six 5th Chad Furey
As a result of winning provincials, Spencer represented our school and Nova
Scotia, for grade 2, at the Canadian Scholastic Chess Challenge in
Calgary. It took place on the Victoria long weekend, Spencer placed 8th at
Nationals.
2000/2001 School Chess Champions
BES Chess Club results for the 2000 / 01 school season.
Our chess club season began in September and ended in March. We had well over
100 regular members who played once a week in our school library.
It has been a lot of fun this year, thanks to all the students who came out
regularly to enjoy a game of chess with friends! The only focus during these
noon hour chess club meetings was to have fun playing chess with lots of
different students at all grade levels.
While our chess club members enjoy the weekly recreational chess, some are
also interested in competing against students from other schools. Therefore, we
have a team that meets separately following the provincials in February, that is
coached by retired school teacher Mr. Brian Burgess. Students are selected to
the team based on their results at provincials. I am very proud of our students'
successes and each club member can accept some credit for the performance of our
chess team members.
Chess Team Champs
Our chess teams were coached by Brian Burgess. Both teams went undefeated as a
team in placing first, at the Nova Scotia Team Chess Championships in
Halifax on May 8.
Our school is very proud of the results because we all share in the success of
our chess players. Our chess team, was selected based on the national chess
ratings of our top four players, following the provincial tournament in April.
Members of our NS championship school chess teams are:
Gr. 4 & Under: Spencer Landry, Kendall Thompson, Aaron Hebb & Eric
Iversen
Gr. 6 & Under: Chad Furey, Cale Ferrier, John Sampson & Hugo Lai
Knights of the Square Table
School Chess Club 2001/02
Our school has more elementary chess players than any other school in the
province. All of our students are taught how to play chess as part of their math
program in grade two, that makes for over 400 students who are currently at BES
who know how to play chess!
Our school chess club, The Knights of the Square Table, began in early September
with over 100 students playing chess each week in our library at noon hour on
Tuesdays or Wednesdays. The club ran until March Break. Our chess club is all
about having fun and enjoying the great game of chess with friends. We do not
keep track of who wins or loses at our chess club.
2001 Knights Tournament
Later in the fall of 2001, we held our annual school chess championship. This
tournament, a tradition in our school that spans four decades, began in 1979.
Approximately 50 of our students decided to enter the tournament. The top three
have their names engraved on our “Knights” trophy.
Our school chess champions for 2001 were:
1st - Patrick Whynot
2nd - Eric Iversen
3rd - Spencer Landry
2002 Nova Scotia Scholastic Chess Challenge
In the new year our school hosted the Southwest Regional qualifying tournament
for provincials. At that event we qualified 19 students from BES for the
provincial tournament. These students finished in the top half at regionals for
their grade level.
At the NS Championship we had nine students place in the “top 3”:
Gr. One 1st Travis Landry
2nd
Fletch Selig
Gr. Two 1st Andrew Snyder
2nd Kevin MacLean
3rd Ian
Smith
Gr. Three 3rd Cory Munroe
Gr. Four 2nd Spencer Landry
3rd Ophelia Lai
Gr. Five 1st Patrick Whynot
2002 Canadian Scholastic Chess Challenge.
Three students from our school were named to the 2002 Nova Scotia Scholastic
Chess Team, the most of any school in the province. The team is comprised of one
student per grade level. These students are the respective 2002 NS scholastic
chess champions.
The team traveled to St. John’s, Newfoundland to compete for national honours,
on May 19 and 20th, at the 2002 Canadian Scholastic Chess Challenge. The
students played as a team, in 9 rounds of chess against the champions from each
of the other provinces. Individual awards for top finishers per grade were also
presented. Representing Bridgewater Elementary School, our town of
Bridgewater, and the province of Nova Scotia as provincial champions were:
Grade One - Travis Landry
Grade Two - Andrew Snyder
Grade Five - Patrick Whynot
Our special congratulations to Andrew who placed third in Canada against a very
talented group of grade two provincial champions!
2002 Nova Scotia School Team Chess Championships
In addition, the Nova Scotia School Team Chess Championships were held on May 5,
2002 in Halifax at Mt. St. Vincent University. Teams of four students
represented their schools from across NS, in the following categories, Gr. 4
& Under, Gr. 6 & Under, Gr. 9 & Under, and Gr. 12 & Under.
Our school team won both of its categories again, for the third year in a row.
We have the finest school chess players in the province.
Congratulations to the students on the Knights of the Square Table, for becoming
provincial champions. The team members representing BES on the Knights of the
Square Table:
Grade 4 & Under:
Spencer Landry
Andrew Snyder
Kevin MacLean
Travis Landry
Grade 6 & Under:
Patrick Whynot
Aaron Hebb
Matthew Snyder
Alex Baker
It has been another great year of chess at Bridgewater Elementary and we are
already looking forward to 02/03!
Mitch Landry
School Team Chess Coach
2001 NOVA SCOTIA SCHOLASTIC CHESS CHALLENGE
Bridgewater Elementary School was very successful at the Daley Black Nova
Scotia Scholastic Chess Challenge in February. In fact, our school had a student
who “medalled” at every grade level, including:
Gr. 1 Andrew Snyder 1st
Kevin MacLean
2nd
Ian Smith
3rd
Gr. 2 Ben Church
2nd
Gr. 3 Spencer Landry 2nd
Gr. 4 Patrick Whynot 2nd
Cory
Mader 3rd
Gr. 5 Aaron Hebb 3rd
Gr. 6 Hugo Lai 1st
It was an exciting day at the elementary level, as five of the six champions
were new this year, including two from BES! Special congratulations to Andrew
Snyder, Grade One, and Hugo Lai,Grade Six, who both went undefeated on route to
provincial crowns. They represented our school, community and province very well
when they traveled to Toronto, for the 2001 Canadian Scholastic Chess Challenge
in May. We were especially thrilled to have two students representing our school
at this prestigious national championship! Andrew did amazingly well, finishing
5th in Canada!! Hugo placed 8th and was strong in all of his games.
May was a very busy month in the scholastic chess calendar, as the chess year
wrapped up. Our team members had a successful month to finish the season.
2001 MARITIME SCHOLASTIC CHESS CHALLENGE
Chess players throughout the Maritimes traveled to Moncton, NB in May
to participate in this event, including several from BES. Two of our students
defeated the reps from NS, NB and PEI at their grade level to become Maritime
Scholastic Chess Champions, they are: grade 1, Kevin MacLean and grade 3,
Spencer Landry.
2001 NOVA SCOTIA SCHOOL TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The last scholastic chess tournament in NS for this season was held on May 6
in Halifax, as schools sought to claim a provincial crown at this school team
event.
All schools were welcome to enter a team of four players per section. Each
student from one school played as a team against students from some other
school. The players were arranged by “board’, with the strongest players
facing each other on “board #1”, the next strongest on “board #2”, etc.
This makes for a very exciting team competition, and each student plays a very
important role in the team’s success. After each round, the team with the most
wins receives one point for their school. There are no individual awards.
The NS School Team Champions in each section were:
• Grades 4 & Under Bridgewater Elementary
1. Spencer Landry
2. Patrick Whynot
3. Ophelia Lai
4. Kevin MacLean
The students each went undefeated individually, posting 24 wins and 0 loses,
on route to a 6-0 team record to win the championship.
• Grades 5&6 Bridgewater Elementary
1. Hugo Lai
2. Stewart Rand
3. Aaron Hebb
4. Colin Price
This was the toughest final of the afternoon, versus JP Giles of Dartmouth.
Both teams brought perfect 5-0 records into the cross over match. The kids from
Bridgewater Elementary took three of the four games, to win the match and go
undefeated as a team, 6-0 for the the tournament!
Thank You!
Our school is becoming known as a place that produces excellent chess
players, and my thanks to the terrific support of our awesome BES teachers &
parents, volunteer coach Mr. Brian Burgess, and Chess Club advisor Jennifer
Landry. A special thanks to the over 100 student chess club members at our
school for your many contributions to the success of our team players, and for
making chess club days at BES so much fun!! Mitch Landry.
Here are some interesting Chess facts:
In the 1993 movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer, the young chess prodigy
featured, Josh Waitkens, would go on to win several more national chess titles.
Bobby Fischer and Boris Spasky were offered $5 million to play chess in 1992.
Prime Ministers, presidents and kings have loved chess throughout time. In 1492,
when Columbus sought ships from King Ferdinand for his journey to the new world,
it is said that he was granted them because the king was in a good mood from
winning at chess.
The first world champion of chess was in 1866, Wilhelm Steinitz from Prague.
The second book to be printed in the English language was by William Caxton, The
Game and Play of Chess (the first was the bible).
Chess is played in every country in the world. After just two moves for each
player, there are over 70,000 different moves that are possible.
If you are interested in setting up a chess club for your school or would
like some assistance with a club that already exists, please feel welcome to
contact me. Chess is an excellent activity for students to be involved in, Mitch
Landry 902-541-8241 (school)