October 29, 2014
Originally posted on nola.com
New Orleans is known for many festivals this time of year and another one has joined the game. The Rosa F. Keller Library and Community Center in New Orleans hosted its first New Orleans Chess Fest Oct. 25. The event was intended to boost enthusiasm for chess for everyone in New Orleans, but especially students, said Michael Tisserand, organizer of Chess Fest.
He said he has seen the rewards of playing chess and wanted to give that opportunity to people in New Orleans.
“I find it incredibly rewarding to have some kid come, and the teacher says ‘Oh, this kid’s having a bad day.’ There’s no way he’s going to be able to play chess and in fifteen minutes he’s absolutely lost in the game, and enjoying it, and competitive, and has good spirits,” Tisserand said.
“I want to try and see more kids have that chance in New Orleans and a festival seemed like the right way to start,” he said.
Tisserand is coordinator of the chess program at Lusher Charter School. He said he began getting interested in the game about 10 years ago, when his daughter, then 6, began playing. “So, I haven’t been playing very long, just 10 years. It is something that my family sort of evolved into,” he said.
The activities at Chess Fest included Harry Potter-style “living chess,” free lessons, a blindfold chess demonstration, and two “simuls,” where a chess expert played dozens of opponents at once.
To play the living chess game, the children were dressed in shirts with the chess pieces drawn on the front as they moved around the board directed by two opponents. In the blindfold chess demonstration, a blindfolded player directed someone to move for him as he continued to picture the board in his head.
Mike Klein, content manager for chess.com and chesskid.com and the headliner for Chess Fest, said important lessons can be learned from playing the game.
“In a chess game you can’t hide,” Klein said. “If you don’t know something, you’re probably going to lose and that child has to learn how to win gracefully and also how to take his losses well too. So I like playing up the personal responsibility angle of the game.”
Tisserand has also seen the benefits of playing chess. He talked about one student whom he found particularly rewarding to work with. “She said, ‘Chess is teaching me that my decisions matter.’ And that is one thing that I think chess teaches kids,” Tisserand said. “They have to decide every move. You know, what kind of game they’re going to play and then they’re going to feel the results right away.”
He also said chess makes children stronger and teaches sportsmanship. “It requires a lot of inner toughness to play. It’s very hard to lose sometimes, especially those two-hour, three-hour games,” Tisserand said. “So then you’re going to lose after that it’s very tough. So it teaches perseverance also,” he said.
Overall, Tisserand had a very specific agenda with Chess Fest.
“My goal is for parents to show up here and leave here saying ‘How come my school doesn’t have a chess program? What can I do to help start a chess program at my school?” he said.
Sara Feldman 