Students to Vie in District Chess Event

Students from five middle schools and four elementary schools in the Valley will travel to a Los Angeles Unified School Districtwide chess tournament today, hoping to test the skills they’ve learned after school and during lunch.

Sponsored by the district’s Youth Services Program, the competition will bring together dozens of the best chess players 14 and younger.

“We thought chess would target all of the kids,” said Doug Coleman, district coordinator of the program. “A lot of our contests are sports-related. This targets kids that may not be able to participate in sports.”

He said the competition, beginning at 9 a.m. at Burroughs Middle School in Los Angeles, brings together students of all abilities, from the novice to the expert.

Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills is thought to have the Valley’s best chance for a good showing this year. Last year, one of the Hale team members tied for fourth and another placed sixth, the highest of any Valley school.

But Marc Schatkun, the school librarian who runs the chess club and has coached many high school players, said he is not sure the team will do as well as it did last year, primarily because only one of the informal chess club’s top three players will be going to the competition.

“I hope we do similar [to last year],” Schatkun said. “You just don’t know. I think we’ll be glad [if one of our team members] place fifth.”

Schatkun puts the players through their paces at lunch each day. He first challenges them to solve a chess problem on a demonstration board, then he allows them to play through the period.

The Valley also will send students from Millikan, Mt. Gleason, Sun Valley and Porter middle schools to the competition. And for the first time, the younger children from Andasol, Victory, Monlux and Fair elementary schools will compete.

Coleman expects to see about 75 children at the event, three from each of the participating schools in the district.