Despite Ravi's efforts, it was all over a few moves later.

"You can't go here. Can't go here. Can't go here. Yeah!" Chase squealed before the two shook hands after the checkmate.

Yesterday marked the first Louisville Area Fall Scholastic Chess Classic at Waggener High School, an event organized by the Louisville Chess Center.

More than 80 public and private students hunched over knights, queens and bishops set up on cafeteria tables, squinting as they tried to outwit opponents in the five-round tournament.

Photos by Pat McDonogh, The Courier-Journal
Alex Webb, a student at Crosby Middle School, rubbed his eyes during one of yesterday's games at the first Louisville Area Fall Scholastic Chess Classic at Waggener High School.

They ranged from kindergartners in superhero clothing to 9-year-old national champions to teenagers who listened to music on headphones as they played.

Chess is getting more popular, including among children, organizers said. The Kentucky Chess Association, which had 300 members a decade ago, now claims about 5,000 statewide, President Steve Dillard said.

Rick Kincaid, who organized yesterday's event, said more parents and educators are embracing chess, partly because studies link it to increased capacity for critical thinking, analysis, logic and academic achievement.

"They say chess is the gymnasium of the mind," he said.

Most of the young players yesterday picked up chess from a relative or a friend, Kincaid said, and have gotten hooked by the head-to-head battles at local tournaments.

Robert Sprawls said his son, 10-year-old Sam, who played yesterday, saw a chess board and became interested several years ago. Sprawls got a chess-for-kids book and Sam "fell in love with the concept of the blitzkrieg," which he said is a strategy that can quickly lead to checkmate.

Since then, he's taken some private lessons and attended a summer chess camp, but Sam is "pretty casual about it," Sprawls said.

There are a number of tournaments throughout the year in the area, many under the auspices of the U.S. Chess Federation.

Chase Champlin of Dunn Elementary School, right, made a move in a game with Ravi Brar of Hayfield Montessori School.

Darren Hou, a fourth-grader at Brandeis Elementary, became a national champion last year in the kindergarten to third-grade category. Nevertheless, he said he was "really nervous" during yesterday's play.

Raymond Linton, a 12-year-old Highland Middle School student, said he enjoys tournaments as a chance to meet like-minded children.

"Most people when they hear you play chess (in tournaments), they're shocked," he said. "They're like, where'd you learn? But it's just fun."

Among yesterday's winners:

Camden Penn, a first-grader at Middletown Elementary, won the kindergarten through first-grade category.

Andrew Lipman, a second-grader from Kentucky Country Day, won the kindergarten through third-grade category.

David Hess, a fourth-grader at Dunn Elementary, won the kindergarten through fifth-grade category.

Darren Hou, the fourth-grader at Brandeis Elementary, won the kindergarten through eighth-grade category.

Daniel Hornback, a senior at Atherton High, won the kindergarten through 12th-grade category.

By Chris Kenning
ckenning@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal