K-Town Chess Festival
October 10 was a beautiful fall afternoon, enjoyed by an enthusiastic 44 children who gathered in Flinn Park in Kensington, Maryland, for the K’Town Chess Festival.
The festival was the brainchild of Elisenda “Eli” Sola-Sole, the owner of the Kensington Row Bookshop. Enlisting the support of the Town of Kensington and local businesses, she organized the first in 2024 and the second on Saturday. She also created the Kensington Day of the Book, held every April and includes a chess tent where passersby may play with a master. We are glad to help with both.
The K-Town Chess Festival was open to anyone in grades 2 – 8 and lasted 2½ hours. We use a method to reduce waiting time between games, so some kids played as many as 12 games during the competition, while others played as few as four. On average, each player had about seven games.
Julian won all eight games he played and took home the first-place trophy. The kids who lost only one game had to face him, making us confident the competition was fair. Ten students won individual trophies, another 14 received medals, and everyone met new friends. St. Albans won the Top Team trophy, and Piney Branch Elementary was the top elementary school.
Kensington Councilmember Ann Lichter issued the awards, placing the Olympic-style medals over the heads of the beaming students, and handing the impressive trophies to the winners. She also accepted the plaque the Center engraved to thank the Town of Kensington for its support of chess for young people. The plaque will be placed in the Town Hall.
