Walnut Creek Elementary revives Chess Club

The Chess Club at Walnut Creek Elementary began four years ago because a core group of third grade students — Danny Hershberger, Logan Miller, Jamie Troyer, William Troyer and Elliot Yoder — loved to play chess and wanted a way to play it at school.

Principal Darrell Haven was more than ready to give other students a chance to learn a game that helps develop the mind.

Ted Troyer, Jamie’s dad, invited Dustin Yoder and Jeff Perry to help teach the students the art of playing chess.

All three adults were friends at school who had been taught the game by former East Holmes teacher and Principal Dan McKey. They all learned how to play chess in sixth grade at Walnut Creek, so they were excited to carry on the skills and traditions they were taught.

“We loved the game after Dan McKey introduced it to us when we were in school,” Ted Troyer said. “He would open his room before school and let us come in to play, and we looked forward to getting to school. He taught us the game, had class tournaments, and he would even ask us older kids to teach the younger kids how to play. It was a tremendous experience that made a big impact on all of us.”

After McKey left in the mid-1990s, the club simply disappeared and was forgotten until Troyer’s son Jamie and his nephew William started to take an interest.

Troyer said it was the youth who were behind the push to reinvent Chess Club.

“Jeff and I saw our young kids playing, and it sparked some great memories for us,” Troyer said. “We started having some conversations with Darrell Haven and (third grade teacher) Tonya Widder, and they were very excited about the possibilities and were totally behind the idea of bringing the Chess Club back.”

It grew quickly, and Troyer said they have 29 students from kindergarten through sixth grade including some students shuttled in from Berlin Elementary.

Local businesses including ProVia and Walnut Creek Cheese have given support over recent years.

The club meets two times a month during September through November and then from January through March. Following the educational portion of learning the game, there is always an end of the year tournament to celebrate the progress the kids have made and show what they've learned through the years.

The sessions include 15 minutes on strategies, and they take the beginners and discuss the movement of pieces. They discuss opening moves and tactics and then let the kids play and learn together.

Troyer said learning to play chess gives children a surprising number of mental and personal benefits.

“There’s solid research on how good chess is for kids’ minds,” Troyer said. “It develops critical thinking and decision-making and can teach them about competition, build confidence, and they don’t have to be a super-athlete to compete.”

The value of learning the game at a young age has proven to be all those things and more. Chess forces kids to think ahead, analyze options and predict consequences. Every move has a purpose, which trains their brains to evaluate situations carefully and make thoughtful decisions.

The game can last a long time, and one small mistake can change everything. Children learn to stay attentive, concentrate and ignore distractions — skills that carry over into schoolwork and daily life.

It also strengthens memory skills. Players remember patterns, strategies and previous games, which improves both short-term and long-term memory and can support learning in subjects like math, reading and science.

It encourages patience and discipline as kids learn to slow down, plan carefully and develop self-control, valuable traits both in and out of the classroom.

In addition, the game boosts confidence, enhances creativity and teaches good sportsmanship. Above all, it can create lasting friendships, the three coaches being a testament to that.

“Chess is like a workout for the brain,” Troyer said. "It helps children become better thinkers, more patient learners and more confident decision-makers, and besides that, it’s a whole lot of fun to play with your friends.”

Troyer said once the leaders at Walnut Creek Elementary captured that “aha moment” with the benefits of chess, things progressed quickly. He said the hope is other schools in the area capture that same sense of growth and begin their own clubs, noting they would love to create school tournaments in the future.