SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
For a few hours last Thursday, instead of pounding feet and bouncing balls, the gymnasium at J. H. Sissons School was filled with strategizing and intense concentration.
Isaiah Mackie plans his next move during the first game at the J. H. Sissons chess tournament last Thursday. - Danielle Sachs/NNSL photo |
More than 100 students from grades 1 through 5 were enthralled with the chess boards in front of them.
The annual tournament has been going on for more than 10 years at the school, which has the largest student chess club in the city, said principal Paul Bennett.
"We always get Lloyd Thiessen out here to start the games and it's amazing because the gym is so hectic and noisy and then all of a sudden it's so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop," said Bennett.
Thiessen coaches the Mildred Hall School chess club, but was involved with the Sissons tournament from the very beginning, so he still shows up to help co-ordinate and run the event.
A self-described recreational player, Thiessen doesn't compete in tournaments himself, but organizes them, including the city-wide tournament for students up to Grade 8 last Saturday.
"We also have an adult tournament, this year it was the third week in January," said Thiessen.
Thiessen started playing chess when he was in Grade 11.
"I was actually really into Othello and a friend of mine was a really good chess player so we taught each other the game," said Thiessen.
Othello is a two-player strategic board game where the goal is to fill the board with as many disks of your colour as possible.
"By the end we were beating each other," said Thiessen.
Thiessen started playing again when his six-year-old-son, now 19, expressed an interest in the game.
In addition to the weekly Thursday chess club meetings at Sissons, teachers at the school endeavour to pull chess into the classroom on a weekly basis.
"There's a correlation between math and chess," said Thiessen. "People good in math tend to gravitate toward the game."
Lucy Pelletier served as head judge for the Sissons tournament.
"I like chess and some of the older kids are getting quite good," she said. "Even the adults have a tournament, although (Thiessen) is leaving next year. I'm hoping someone will step up and help with the city-wide tournaments."
