The North American Youth Chess Championship is happening at the DoubleTree Hotel though Wednesday.
By Sean Roach June 27, 2011
Hunkered down and meticulously plotting their moves, more that 270 of North America’s best young chess players are dueling it out in Tarrytown.
The 2011 North American Youth Chess Championship is taking place over the next three days at the DoubleTree hotel.
It’s the seventh annual youth chess championship gathering, which takes place in a different country each year. Among the competitors are kids from the United States, Canada, Mexico and The Bahamas.
The event is being organized by Beatriz Marinello, a world-renowned chess master. Marinello began playing as a child, and took home her first national championship, in Chile, at the age of 16. Her experience makes her acutely aware of the need to provide promising young chess players with international opportunities.
“This is the next step, playing internationally, and this will make it easier to transition to international tournaments,” she said. “That is the thinking behind this event, and bringing together players from different countries.”
The event has attracted children as young as five, up to college-bound 18 year olds, including Sleepy Hollow’s Jake Miller (Miller is a Patch contributor and a nationally-ranked youth chess player, full story here).
The top boy and top girl in each section of the tournament will qualify to play in the 2012 Pan American Youth Championship which will take place in Columbia. Winning players will also receive an international title.
Marinello said she was surprised at the large turnout. She noted that chess is becoming more popular among students, and that parents are realizing there is a correlation between chess problem solving and stamina skills and success in the classroom and beyond.
“A lot of families, they view this as a mind trainer,” she said. “We know for a fact that most chess players will go to good universities and they will get a good education.”
To learn more about the event, watch our video above.