History of the Chess Club

The AAH Kids' Chess Club has been meeting since October 4, 1995. The first meeting was held at the Riverside branch of the Austin Public Library, with 7 players attending. By November 1995, we had already grown to 24 players of all ages attending!

In January 1996, we became a USCF affiliate and received 3 chess sets and boards from the U.S. Chess Trust. As well, Doug Hardesty and Will Colbert participated in a scholastic tournament in Klein. Doug also played in two other tournaments during the next few months.

In March 1996, we held our first USCF rated chess tournament, Spring Fever '96. It was five rounds long. The library generously provided lunch for our players. Several players received trophies or medals:

1st Place2nd Place3rd Place
Overall TournamentDoug HardestyGovind PersadAurora Bensko-Tarsitano
Class I (12-16 yrs)Mitch BurtonGabe Golden
Class II (11 yrs)Claire ColbertBair Carlson
Class III (9-10 yrs)Alex SchwendnerSisi SmithRobert Powell
Class IV (7-8 yrs)Will ColbertGeeta Persad

In March 1996, our fast-expanding chess club, which had outgrown the library, moved to Trinity United Methodist Church, and we began charging a small fee due to the cost of using the building. The TCA donated eight chess sets to our club. We held two smaller rated tournaments during April.

In May 1996, we held another chess tournament, the May Meltdown, this time in collaboration with the West Austin Youth Association and sponsored by Neiman, Hanks, & Puryear. Doug Hardesty and Govind Persad once again finished first and second overall, and Valerie Meeks took third. Other trophy winners included Kirkland Audain, Claire and Will Colbert, Nicole Duff, Charles Meeks, Meredith Orf, Geeta Persad, Naiman Rigby, and Sisi Smith. Danny Hardesty, our club instructor, gave a simul.

Several of our players also participated in adult tournaments during the latter half of 1996. In 1997, our club participated in its first large scholastic tournament, the Regionals at Fulmore Middle School in South Austin. The club played in several more large scholastic tournaments during 1997 and 1998 and did quite well, picking up many team and individual prizes, including first place Primary and Middle School in the 1998 Region VI Scholastic Championship. See the tournament reports for more details.

In 1998, we moved to the Hancock Recreation Center. During summer 1999, we are meeting in the Yarborough branch library due to summer programs being held at the Hancock Recreation Center.

Back to the AAH Chess Club page?

http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~govind/aahkcc/join.html