Miami Lakes K-8 Center Chess Club completes 2019 season at District tourney

The Miami Lakes K-8 (MLK-8) Center Chess Club finished off a great year of strategic competition at the final District Chess Tourney on April 12 and narrowly missed placing among the county’s best schools.
The Chess Club is composed of 17 players from second to eighth grades. The team coach and advisor is Oscar Badillo.
The team meets to practice and hosts intra-school competitions twice a week and competes on weekends against schools throughout Miami-Dade County through the 64 Squares Foundations which hosts competitions.
All of the efforts and training cumulated in the last major tournament of the year, a Grand Prix Tournament held at Divine Savior Academy in Doral. MLK-8 brought a team of seven students who all did well playing five games each in their respective categories.
Best of the bunch was Michael Montoya III, a chess whiz who won county-wide accolades and will advance to state and national competitions.
When asked why they train and push so hard, as such a challenging game, one team member summarized it best saying, “I love chess because every game is new and I get better every time. It is really hard but I know it makes me think faster and smarter.”