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The perfect move: Chess enthusiasts play in tournament

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The Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation Tournament

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EVANSVILLE — If you touch a piece, you move the piece, period. And no talking.

More important, if you find a good move, don’t use it. Instead, find a better move.

Those were chess mentor Bob Patterson–Sumwalt’s words on chess etiquette and strategy before a Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation tournament Saturday at Grove Campus Field House in Evansville.

The WSCF chess tournament, open to area chess club students K-12, was the first of its kind in Rock County.

Students at the tournament, some of whom are new players in a growing local youth chess movement, talked about feeling their oats on the checkered square.

Cade Stowe, a fourth-grader at Northside Intermediate School in Milton, said he has only been playing on his school chess team for a few months. He joined the team because he thought learning chess would be a good way to meet people and to have fun with friends.

“My favorite thing is taking my opponents’ pieces,” he said.

Stowe’s mother, Emma Stowe of Milton, said Cade takes after his father, Mike Stowe, who is a chess buff.

“He’s already beaten his dad twice,” Emma said. “You really remember those days.”

Evansville chess coach Steve Diebold, 44, of Evansville, said Saturday’s tournament was a great chance for youth chess to get a foothold in the area.

“There’s not very many games in southern Wisconsin,” he said. “Last year, we were going to Milwaukee and DeForest for tournaments. This year, we got to stay at home.”

“Today was home court advantage,” Evansville Theodore Robinson fourth-grader Ron Cresswell said.

Cresswell talked about chess being a game for boys and girls alike. He said the jury’s out on whether males are better than females at chess.

“It depends on what your skill level is. It’s kind of like playing foursquare at recess. Anybody can beat anybody,” he said.

Gabby Diebold, a second- grader at Evansville Levi Leonard, was shy when telling a news reporter about the results of her first chess game Saturday. She’d lost.

“I didn’t see their rook coming,” she said.

Diebold said she was looking forward to playing another game later.

Patterson–Sumwalt, an educator and president-founder of the nonprofit WSCF, said about 3,000 young people in Wisconsin now play club chess. That number is growing.

He said young players such as Gabby Diebold benefit most from playing the game.

He said the game helps students improve their concentration and self-esteem. It trains young people to analyze and solve complex problems, he said.

“There are few activities that can shape young brains in more ways,” he said.