Park Avenue chess club welcomes Bellvale School students for chess tournament

Last Saturday, Park Avenue students in teacher Gabe Perez’s 4th grade chess club welcomed 5th and 6th grade students from the Bellvale School to the Park Avenue gymnasium for a friendly chess tournament. It was the first of its kind at Park Avenue. In fact, this is the first year that Park Avenue has had a chess club at all!  

“When I first started teaching in Warwick, we’d never had one,” said Mr. Perez. “And I remember at this age, for myself, I was always going to the library after school and playing chess.”

Mr. Perez took his idea for the club to Park Avenue Principal Bill Biniaris, who, as it happened, was also a chess fan, and the club was established. Mr. Perez was surprised and excited when more than 2o students signed up.

Principal Biniaris even expanded on the idea, with a nod to the Portrait of a Graduate tenet of being Ethical & Global Citizens. Part of what it means to be an Ethical & Global Citizens is to be a community-minded neighbor to the world, and the chess tournament was a fantastic way for students from the Warwick Valley school community to meet their neighbors from the Bruderhof Community’s Bellvale School.        

“Absolutely! The goal for the tournament wasn’t even really about the chess,” said Mr. Perez. “It was more for the collaboration, meeting peers from a different community. That connection was something we really wanted to push, so besides the chess boards we had tables in the back to make it more of a mixer event.”

Being a math and science teacher, Mr. Perez understands the role chess can have in teaching such life skills as problem solving and planning ahead.

“It’s literally having a game plan,” he said. “When I teach math, I always tell the students that you want to be a detective. You want to look at all the details. And with chess, you’re looking at the details; not just what’s on the board, but what might happen one, two moves ahead. It encourages deeper level thinking, and that’s great.”

Chess club member Eva Mazzara loves the strategy of chess. Like many of the club’s members, Eva came to the club with no prior playing experience.

“I just wanted to learn something new, and I heard from a lot of people that it’s really fun,” Eva said. “Now, I love chess because you have to use your brain to think of what your opponent’s moves might be. I love thinking two moves ahead.”

Teammate Logan Reilly has been playing chess at home for two years. He started the hobby along with the rest of his family, and was excited to hear that a chess club was starting up at Park Avenue.

“I asked for a chess board for my birthday last year, and that’s when we all pretty much started playing,” Logan shared, adding that he enjoys chess club for the camaraderie. “What I like about chess club is that you just get together with friends, play chess and hang out and have fun.”

The tournament didn’t just have a great student turnout, the parent turnout was also strong. Parents from both schools appreciated the opportunity that the tournament afforded their students to get involved in a competition that wasn’t an athletic competition, and to push themselves in ways that non-athletes don’t always get. 

“And, you know, it’s also great because we’re not in front of screens. There’s more interaction,” he said. “They can actually move pieces; they’re actually playing a game together.”

Mr. Perez and the chess club want to thank their friends from the Bellvale School for taking them up on their invitation. They also send a special thank you to the Park Avenue PTA for its support and for the awesome team tee shirts. They hope to have more events like this one in the future, after Saturday’s big success!