A hundred teams, 1,400 kids – all playing chess

SAN BENITO — Match after match, students from across the Rio Grande Valley focused sharply on their next move.

The 2012 Region 8 Chess Championship, held at Veterans Memorial Academy in San Benito on Saturday afternoon, drew about 1,400 students representing 100 teams. The turnout is evidence that the game has boomed in popularity in the region, said Victor Bailey, a chess coach who organized the tournament.

Students were sprawled out in classrooms across the campus practicing their moves until the moment they were called to compete.

In the cafeteria vendors sold unique chess sets and travel gear so that students could take the game virtually anywhere.

One chess mom said she was waiting for her son to finish his match. She said she was extremely nervous but knew that win or lose, chess is teaching her son valuable lessons in life.

Bailey said chess is a very special game that utilizes many aspects of learning.

“Chess is basically at every school. It’s looked upon as an intellectual sport. It opens a venue for kids who are looking to be competitive but are not necessarily athletically inclined,” he said.

The tournament concludes today.

igarcia@valleystar.com