Over 90 school students from seven schools battled it out, in the Central West Chess Division one-day competition at St Philomena’s School on Wednesday.
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Students travelled from not just Bathurst to compete, but Orange, Perthville, O’Connell and even Lue, near Mudgee, to checkmate their opposition.
Winners on the day will travel to Sydney to face other country division winners, with the victors on that day challenging the Sydney division winners the following day.
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St Philomena’s chess coordinator Shane Hanley said the game’s participation numbers at the school is excellent.
“I have 26 students in my year five class and they all participated,” he said.
“We have about 200 students at St Philomena’s and of that 200, we have 76 currently playing chess.
“They all really enjoy representing their school.”
He said that in the past three to four years, St Philomena’s has seen record participation in the game.
“The chess participation is not teacher driven, it’s actually peer driven,” he said.
“It’s a game that involves strategy, problem solving and team work, as the students are playing in teams of four.”
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Chess, for those who are not familiar, is played on a checkered game board with 64 squares arranged in an 8x8 grid.
Each player begins with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns.
Each of the six piece types moves differently, with the most powerful being the queen and the least powerful the pawn.
The objective is to checkmate the opponent's king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture.
Chess is believed to have originated in India sometime in the 7th century AD.
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