Spring Chess Tournament

Spent all day Saturday at Northampton Community College for the 7th Annual Chess Championships. My daughter and I have been going to this event, offered twice a year (spring and fall) since the fall of 2005 and each time we've gone it has been well conducted and a great experience.

There were more than fifty participants in the age based section 5-13 year olds and another twenty plus in the rated section (US Chess Federation sanctioned event).

Prior to each round the tournament director talked about how to checkmate, stalemate, draws, and being good sports. There were also door prizes given away prior to each round that included chess sets, books, and CD's.

Every player had five games guaranteed and many of the participants played games with one another between 'official' games. It was nice to again see the MS gifted teacher, Mr. Smith, in attendance to see some of his students who were in the tournament. I know there were at least five Nazareth students in the tournament.

At the conclusion of the five rounds there was an awards ceremony. The non-rated, age-based section recognized the 1st and 2nd place finishers in each age group and the rated section recognized the top three finishers plus the highest unranked, under 400 and under 1000 players. From Nazareth in the age-based section, Colin Henderson received a medal for his 2nd place finish and Alexa Nunamaker received a trophy for her 1st place finish.

The Community College offers in addition to the tournament classes for students to learn how to play, but you don't need to have taken classes to participate. Mostly, the players need to know the rules of the game and the staff is very helpful when players aren't certain or have a question.