Oakland ~ The Youth Chess Club began about 21/2 years ago as a group of eight kids who dropped by the Golden Gate Branch Library in North Oakland once a week to find people their age to play chess with.

Four months later, the club members attended their first chess clinic.

By November, the club -- now 25 members strong -- had played in its first tournament, against McClymonds High School, and taken home three trophies.

"When we had our first tournament, that was the real deal," said Senior Library Assistant Don Waters, who started the club.

Club members have since played in a number of tournaments, both county and statewide, some involving as many as 1,400 youngsters, and have come away with more than a dozen trophies to stand on display inside cases at the library and at school. Some of the trophies are taller than the kids themselves.

The club, which now meets Friday and Saturday afternoons and holds quarterly clinics, was started to provide children with somewhere to go after school that could offer a sustainable hobby. The club's corps of volunteers -- usually chess players with an international rating between 1,200 to 1,500 -- help instruct the beginners, provide one-on-one coaching and serve as mentors, which Waters says is a large part of the program.

"Most of these kids have issues other than just chess," Waters said. "Chess becomes their outlet."

Waters said he was drawn to chess because it could bring together "a cross-section of kids who would have something in common."

"Chess happens to be a great equalizer," he said. "It goes across races, genders, religions."

He was also struck by the value of using chess to teach youngsters how to develop strategy as well as to view and tackle problems from a new direction.

"It's really good to help the kids to generate critical thinking, not only around the chess game but also around life issues," Waters said. "A good chess player knows there's a strategy for achieving a certain position in chess. That strategy and that formula also apply to life."

For more information about volunteering with the Youth Chess Club, call the Golden Gate Branch Library at 597-5023.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
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