Afterschool club takes a gambit and wins

By Sara Hill

A new after-school club is teaching children skills they can use long after it’s time to go home.

The Knight School, a national franchise teaching chess classes to children as young as 5 years old, has started an official chess team at St. Albert the Great at Assumption Academy in Broadview Heights. Ben Rowan, owner of The Knight School Cleveland/Akron office, and a chess player since the age of 7, says much research has gone into the benefits of teaching children the game of chess.

“It can help everything from building a child’s academic confidence to getting them thinking about things differently,” Rowan said. “It teaches them to think about cause and effect in a different way; ‘If I move my queen to this square, what might happen?’ It helps children learn how to identify a goal and how to work backwards to get there, and that applies to everywhere in somebody’s life. Our students are learning without knowing they are engaging in learning, which is the best kind of learning.”

Chess Club meets weekly on Wednesdays at the Broadview Road school with Instructor Jack Ohliger at the helm. The team has 14 enrolled students. Participation, which costs $60/month, is open to all students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Participants receive a Knight School T-shirt, TKS chess bag, an official U.S. Chess Federation Tournament chess set, and free/unlimited replacements for lost or broken pieces. The Knight School also has footholds in Brecksville-Broadview Heights City Schools, Revere Local School District, Old Trail School in Bath, and St. Albert the Great School in North Royalton.

The Knight School began in Alabama and is now in several major cities across the United States from Philadelphia to Portland, Rowan said.

“What we’re really excited about and what sets us apart is the fact that we want our chess spaces to be a space where kids can be kids. Our kids are not sitting quietly playing long and silent games. We really try to have a high-energy, party atmosphere,” Rowan said. “People refer to us as ‘the loud chess club.’”

New and different tactics and topics are introduced every week to build on the children’s skills.

Lesson plans use activities, puzzles, tutorials, trivia, pop culture and interactive discussion to instill skills and teach the game to young learners. When a child masters a particular skill or demonstrates a positive trait, such as identifying chess pieces correctly or showing sportsmanship with an opponent, that individual earns a colored silicone wristband. The most coveted color to earn is black, denoting a child has beat Rowan himself at a game of chess.

“Do not underestimate kids and how quickly they pick up the game, you’ll be surprised a lot,” Rowan said. “We begin by going through the pieces one at a time and explain how they move and the rules of the game. After the lesson portion, the kids play chess. Then we begin explaining how checkmating works. It takes time to get through all the rules of the game, and the tactics and strategies. We’re playing games even in week one. It’s necessary to solidify what we’ve learned in a lesson.”

Rowan said instructors walk around and monitor games. Twice a year, the group hosts the ‘Tourna-Party,’ in which kids from every school we work with all gather in one place to play games against each other based on grade level. “There are champions and trophies,” he said. “We also have optional online tournaments every Saturday.”

In chess, a classical strategy game, each player is trying to maneuver their pieces and get the upper hand on their opponent, Rowan explained.

“My dad taught me chess when I was 7 years old,” Rowan said. “He did high school chess club and I played off and on for years. In 2016, I came across The Knight School and together we ultimately decided to begin a network here in the Cleveland/Akron area.”

Rick Kaliszewski, principal of Saint Albert the Great at Assumption Academy, is well pleased with his students’ response to the new after-school offering.

“I know the students are having so much fun at Knight School, and it is just awesome to see the students bonding over a game that goes back centuries,” Kaliszewski said. “The best part is that there are life lessons taught in chess too about being prepared, thinking and planning ahead and taking small risks.

Lesson plans for the Knight School chess club rely on activities, puzzles, tutorials, trivia, pop culture and interactive discussion to instill skills and teach the game to young learners. Photo submitted.