Getting more kids into chess at fourth annual tournament

Hundreds of students off all ages gathered at Kuper Academy on Saturday to play chess. The annual tournament is part of an ongoing strategy to get more kids into the game.

The game is one that requires the utmost concentration, where every move matters.

Some 200 players of all ages and skill levels gathered in the Kuper academy gym to take part in the fourth annual Nelligan chess tournament.

The event is the brainchild of Nelligan MNA Monsef Derraji, who loves the game for what it teaches.

“It’s a game that you always have to think about, and it really gets your mind off things,” he says.

“Every game, we learn something. If we lose, we learn. And if you win, we learn also.”

That’s why he’s championing the cause of getting chess into more schools with the partnership of Quebec’s Chess Federation.

“We hope to have more and more youth in schools playing chess. this is the science of calculation and sense of improvement learning, and i think it’s pretty good for youth,” says the federation’s president, Eric Guipi Bopala.

While you can advance in chess, you never stop learning or master the game, and that’s why actor and chess enthusiast Antoine Vezina says he keeps playing.

“You always got a few steps, or you think you’re better, and then you encounter one more adversary, which is a bit better. So, you always lose. But you get up that ladder somehow,” he says.

Though there are prizes up for grabs, and even a chance to qualify for the provincial tournament, most young players are trying to get better at the game and make their next move.