Scholastic Chess at Blossom Wood Day School
[imagefield_assist|fid=8943|preset=frontpage_200x200|lightbox=true|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=200|height=200]On Friday, January 7, Scholastics Coordinator Alex Vergilesov made his first visit to Blossom Wood Day School in Hazelwood. This was the first time in the history of the school that chess lessons were offered as an option for after-school programming. Vergilesov and club employee Mike Kummer drove out to the event where they met up with a recently hired part-time instructor, Sam Hatfield. When they arrived 32 students were eagerly awaiting their first-ever chess lesson!
Kummer instructed a group of 16 K-4 students separately, while Vergilesov trained Hatfield on how to lead and implement a lesson. Sixteen more enthusiastic students in grades 4-7 made their first steps in understanding chess. The instructors began with a pawn exercise, challenging the students to play out “pawn wars” where the victory condition was promotion; the first player to promote a pawn wins.