The ISF Academy 2010 Chess Open

Jen here. March 27th was a big day for Chess4Life | Hong Kong. We held our first large tournament, partnering with one of our schools, The ISF Academy. We watched the sign-up numbers grow and knew this would be big, especially for Roy, head honcho of all things Chess in ActiveKids.

114 kids signed up and we had three sections: Secondary (~12-18), Primary (~7-11) and 6 and under (4-6). I don't remember the final number of schools that turned up, but I believe it was in the teens or twenties.

The day began early, with Roy and me arriving at the school by 7:15am. Check-in would start at 9:30am, and the first round at 10am. Logistically, our goal was to keep things moving--on-time or ahead of time. Tournaments that run behind are difficult for staff, students and parents. No one wants that!

The week prior, Roy trained me and three other staff to be floor tournament directors (I got to watch over the 4-6 year olds!) and The ISF Academy provided multiple parent volunteers that were so helpful in everything from helping students to read pairings, record results, pass out meal vouchers and round up students for the next round. The ISF Academy principal was a vital part of the success of the day as well. Praise God for providing all this help!

And now for my little tidbits of the day. Chess tournament halls are supposed to be quiet, right? Roy did a great job setting the tone for the day (fun, and quiet) and the students (especially my little ones) were very quiet. Sure, there was the occasional student yelling, "Check!" or "Illegal move, take it back!" but all in all, they did well.

When students completed their games, they were instructed to quietly walk with their opponent to the results table to record their result. This table was about 30 feet away from where the 4-6 year olds played their games. Almost every pair of kids would say, "okay" and then run to the results table(feet pounding the gym floor)! A few times, one student's opponent would head toward the results table first, and every time she would yell, "Hey, wait for me!" and run to catch up with her opponent. Oh kids. They made me smile multiple times and laugh out loud at other times.

Between rounds the students could hang out in the Skittles room (Cafeteria) or play outside. Once the students heard the next round was beginning, there was a stampede to the tournament hall. :) Many of my 4-6 year olds would come in fresh from the soccer court, sweating and out of breath.

The kids did an excellent job. My little ones ended up playing 7 rounds of Chess in one day, as did the primary kids. The secondary only played 5 rounds (they had longer rounds). We handed out many trophies and saw many students excel.

After the tournament, we were exhausted (all staff included). Once we packed everything up, a few of us decided to get dinner before heading home. I felt a camaraderie among our staff as we spent all day working and then had time to chat and get to know one another more at dinner. It was a fun day! Roy and I got home around 8pm and went straight to bed! What a day!