Tonight, we hosted our first Chess Club for Kids. About 17 young ones were there, ranging in age from 5 to 14, from nine different schools in Arlington. Some were learning chess for the first time (I think I said "it moves like an 'L' " at least twenty times), and a few were experienced tournament players. All the kids received a sparkly chess pencil and a chess piece keychain. From the abundance of remaining bishops and pawns, you can guess which pieces are the most popular! All the parents received... a boring newsletter from me, pleading for their time and resources.
Thank you to the Arlington Public Library for allowing us to use the community room. The room was a good size -- with space for us to grow in the coming months. Since we're only allowed to make three reservations at a time, I will soon reserve the facility for December and January, then I will post it on our events calendar.
A special thanks to the parents who helped out. Because of you, we were able to offer more individual attention to the first timers. As this program develops, I will get a better sense for how to best manage the numbers. Possibly we could divide the room into rotating sections? I want to vary the activities from month to month. I may try to enlist my wife for some chess-related crafting that we could somehow tie into learning about the pieces.
Random trivia: Since the inception of our organization in April 2011, we have hosted chess events in four different locales (J.R. Bentley's, Health and Harmony House, Salvation Army Community Center, and George W. Hawkes Central Library) all within a mile of each other. Next up, Levitt Pavilion? Arlington Museum? UTA campus? I feel like we need to continue our downtown Arlington takeover.
