First year Chess Puzzle Team captures first place in District

By Marlene J. Bohr
mbohr@steelcountrybee.com

With very little practice under their belts, the chess puzzle team members at West Elementary School in Daingerfield captured first place in District competition at the Dec. 9 University Interscholastic League meet. The team members were Rodger Argueta, Hudson Howell and Richard Dorman.
In individual competition, Rodger placed first, Hudson placed third and Richard placed fourth.
West Elementary School Principal Lesia Lewis said this is a new event that was added this year to the UIL competition.
“Chess Puzzle was added to the list of events and J.D. Davis, a seasoned chess player, volunteered to coach the team at West Elementary,” Mrs. Lewis said. “They meet to practice during the children’s recess time.
“I was thrilled to hear that Mr. Davis would be willing to give up his time for our students.  He actually went out and purchased game sets for each child to have one to practice with at home.  It is a great way to give back to the community.”
Mr. Davis said he couldn’t be prouder of the young chess players. Upon his return from a cruise where he played chess all the way across the Atlanta, he learned of a need for a chess teacher at West Elementary.
“I had an opportunity to get involved when I returned from a trip overseas,” Mr. Davis said.  “The last two weeks in October and the first November I flew to Barcelona, and 85 world class chess players took a cruise back to Miami. I got to really play live with those guys. There were 4,000 on the cruise, but 85 of us were avid chess players. I booked the cruise to play chess. We had a grand master on board, and we also got to each play the grand master one game.  There is a master, an international master, and then there is a grand master. There are less than 100 grand masters in the world.
“We had our first class in chess at West Elementary on Nov. 6. These students knew nothing about chess. They are second graders, ages 7 and 8. The first class we did a little video introduction to chess to show them how pieces move. Once they determined UIL competition, they needed someone who was involved in chess. I had chess in college and have been fortunate enough to play some of the world’s best chess players in the last year. It was an opportunity because these guys are great; I just can’t tell you how thrilled I am with these little guys. We had three weeks to prepare before the competition. We met 30 minutes a day, and from there we went to winning gold in three weeks’ time.”
 

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