Bringing chess to a whole new level: Windsor, Ont. chess players looking for national support

Grade eight student and chess team member Sebastian Haddad from Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School is seen in Windsor, Ont. on Feb. 28, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Hundreds of young chess players have taken over the Ciociaro Club as the Windsor Chess Challenge returned to the region Tuesday.

1,400 students representing 90 Windsor-Essex elementary schools are taking part in the two-day event that took a two year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is the first time since 2020 that we've been able to run the tournament and we didn't know what the response would be,” said tournament organizer Kathleen Westlake. “We didn't know if the momentum was gone and if the kids still wanted to play chess or if the chess teams at the schools would come back and they did.”

Westlake said the response was overwhelming while organizing the event, noting registration opened early to make sure everything ran smooth. Officials said there were no virtual tournaments during pandemic restrictions, and said the spirit of the game is best experienced in person.

“Chess is supposed to be a game. People overthink it and then they take all the fun out of it. So it's something that doesn't need electronics, it doesn't need Wi Fi it doesn't need anything other than board and pieces,” said Westlake.

1,400 students from across Windsor-Essex took place in a two-day event as the Windsor Chess Challenge returned to Windsor, Ont. on Feb. 28, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor) Westlake added, “The secret thing about chess is it actually makes kids smarter. And there's empirical evidence that says that, if you play chess, your math scores go up. A lot of your educational and academic scores go up. So don't tell your kids that, but there's actually real benefits to playing chess.”

Meantime, the Chess Federation of Canada is circulating a petition calling the federal government to support chess as a regular sport in Canada.

“So it'd be like Hockey Canada or Tennis Canada,” said President Vladimir Drkulec. “Just on chess.com I think there's over a million players in Canada, playing chess.”

According to Drkulec, chess improves creativity, memory, problem-solving skills and concentration while it teaches planning, foresight, decision making, logic and reasoning. He said federal support would allow for more funding to make tournaments like the Windsor Chess Challenge possible.

“The petition is asking for government support for chess but also as recognition as a regular sport,” he said. “Right now in two provinces, chess is supported by the government. One is Alberta and one is Quebec.”

1,400 students from across Windsor-Essex took place in a two-day event as the Windsor Chess Challenge returned to Windsor, Ont. on Feb. 28, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor) Drkulec told CTV News Windsor, “We're doing okay right now because we have the largest membership since probably the 1970s when chess was more popular, but I think we're getting there again.”

300 medals will be distributed during the two-day event. Playoffs for the Windsor Chess Challenge will be held on April 8.

“They might not be your athletes. They might not be your drama kids. They might not be front and center for all those accolades that the other kids get, but this is a legitimate team for a school. This is a team that can come out and compete against other schools,” Westlake continued.

She added, “They can represent your school. Some of them have the team shirts on. We give pennants and pennants that we give go up beside the soccer and beside the the volleyball and the basketball, that these kids are representing their schools in a way that is valuable to them.”