Lowell — When the clock ticks to 1:40 p.m. — afternoon recess time at Murray Lake Elementary — about 25 students rush to grab chess boards and pieces as quickly as possible from a cabinet in the hallway.
The next 20 minutes is filled with intense play as students eye the kings, queens and pawns, considering moves on the board.
“I focus on getting control of the center and then attacking with small attacks, until you have so much control. Then you start playing with strategy and then I checkmate them,” explained fifth-grader Harrison Trujillo while he faced a formidable opponent, fifth-grader Francis Hudson, who was setting a strong blockade.
“I try to move so all my pawns are in a zigzag, because if someone takes a pawn then I can move to take the attacker. So then I’m able to move my pawns like that, over and over and over,” Francis said.
The students were practicing for the annual Murray Lake chess tournament, when, over the course of several days during recess, the school will play until there’s a champion, crowning the king or queen of chess.
The March Madness-style bracket tournament and indoor chess, in general, on cold winter afternoons is something students look forward to every year.
“They are super excited about it each year, so it’s just something I try to fit in,” said Principal Molly Burnett, who oversees the club. “They just get started and go. … I never have to discipline; they are very on task.”
‘This is a game of grit.’
— Principal Molly Burnett
Instead, Burnett gets to watch the students develop their skills and see how their minds work.
“A lot of them will move a piece and keep their hand on it, and they will look at all the angles just to make sure that nothing else can kill that piece,” she said.
Recess Chess Club for third- through fifth-graders, has existed for more than a decade at Murray Lake. Started by former Principal Brent Noskey, it’s a popular activity for students who want an indoor recess option.
Club members already know how to play, or teach each other, but there’s no teacher or adviser leading, Burnett said. Many students, in anticipation of the club, learn to play online or from older siblings.
Research shows there are academic benefits to playing chess, including in literacy and math, and critical and analytical skills. The game has been surging in popularity among children.
“It’s a lot of strategy. It’s about thinking ahead.” Burnett said. “Our focus this month is grit. This is a game of grit. You have to really focus and think about things, and it’s not easy.”
Fourth-grader Monroe Wallace and her brother, fifth-grader Hudson Wallace, learned to play from their dad.
“I don’t really have a strategy,” Monroe said. “If I can get somebody out, I get them out and I just play off of what I think.”
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