Checkmate! Miami Lakes kids make smart moves

Opponents faced strong competition against students from Miami Lakes and area schools who competed in recent chess matches.
Our Lady of the Lakes entered 27 students in the 2019 National Chess Day
Scholastic Tournament at Hialeah Gardens Senior High School on Oct. 12.
The national, rated tournament brought together teams from private and public schools in Florida. It went five rounds during eight hours of play.
Third place winners were second grader Gabriel
Santiago; third grader Arturo Sosa; second grader Victoria Besu and Adrian Ochoa, who is in third grade.
From Mater Lakes
Academy, two chess team players finished in the top three spots at the 64 Squares Foundation Tournament in Doral on Oct. 5.
Seventh-graders
Christopher Garcia and
Deangelo Fernandez finished in first place and third place, respectively, at the rated event for middle school chess teams, Mater Lakes Academy said.
Christopher scored a
perfect 5/0 and Deangelo’s score of 3/2 was enough to finish the tournament in third place.
“It is amazing what our students have been able to accomplish, especially being middle school students,” said Principal Rene Rovirosa.
And on Oct. 26, nearly 80 kids from eight schools played in the second annual Mayor’s Chess Challenge at town hall.
The event was open to students enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th grade.
Renier Gonzalez, a chess grandmaster from Miami, shared tips about the game. Elizabeth Tejada, chess program coordinator for county public schools, urged the kids to never quit the game.
Players received a
commemorative medal
October was National Chess Month.