Chess continues to grow at the Taunton Boys and Girls Club as about 40 players attended the club’s second ever open chess tournament on Saturday.
Players from Taunton, Boston, Fall River and Westboro and Central Falls, R.I., came to Taunton on Saturday for the First Annual Jill Silvia Chess Tournament.
Chess coach John Gordon Sr., assists some of the youngest players
Photo - Taunton Gazette Photo | Christopher Nichols
“We’re going to have this every year in (Silvia’s) honor with a scholarship fund attached to it to raise money for inner city kids to play chess,” said John Gordon Sr., who has been teaching chess at the Boys and Girls Club for the past two years.
“This is one of largest turnouts,” he added.
Silvia was a local student who passed while attending Coyle and Cassidy High School in the 1980s, according to Gordon.
To kick off the tournament just after 10 a.m., Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr. made the ceremonial opening move against Silvia’s father, Albert Silvia.
“They had a little discussion about strategy, which was totally awesome. It was great,” Gordon said.
“It was really great to have the mayor here to support chess and support the Boys Club,” added Frank DelBonis, president of the Rhode Island Chess Association, a non-profit that ran Saturday’s tournament.
For the tournament, competitors were separated into four divisions — novice, 10 and under, 14 and under and open — and competed in four matches with their division.
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