Sai Arjun came to Chess in the Park with a goal: win nine games. Three weeks earlier he had won the first place trophy with a near-perfect 8.5/9 score, and he wanted to improve.
The U.S. Chess Center stresses that the fun part of chess is improving. Winning happens when players get better, and we also stress that good sportsmanship includes always playing one’s best. It was gratifying that Sai Arjun’s goals were not achieving a rating (events like this always are unrated) or winning a trophy, but instead he wanted to improve on his previous impressive result. He succeeded, and in doing so again took home the first place trophy.
We were pleased that 42 children representing 28 schools in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia were brought to Eastern Market Metro Park. Well over half the players live in DC, with the remainder pretty evenly split between Maryland and Virginia.
At the beginning, the temperature was comfortable, but when the cloud cover dissipated the heat became oppressive. The games were played in the shade of the pavilion, but most of the parents sat on the nearby benches that were, unfortunately, not covered. It was nice that politicians campaigning in the park were distributing bottled water.
Heat did not slow down the contestants. They played chess, ran around, and made friends. Spring Hill Elementary in McLean, VA won the top team award, while BASIS DC won the trophy for the top DC school.
Barracks Row Main Street sponsors these events two or three times each spring. Discussions have started about running chess competitions for adults in the fall.
