FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2020
For more information:
Jay Ferguson, [email protected]
Hamilton Knights
(Novato, CA)… How many Knights are at Hamilton School? If you go into the chess room at lunchtime, you’ll find 88 Knights, 44 students and 22 chess boards. For the last three years, Hamilton School has supported a lunch time chess club that has expanded to competitive chess for kids after school.
It all started with volunteers Jay Ferguson and Michele Huff wondering about what it would be like to start a chess club at Hamilton. “Chess is such a great skill 
to have and to play well,” commented Jay. “The game teaches many important life-long skills.” Michele Huff added, “Research has found that focus and developing a growth mindset are a few of the benefits from playing chess.” Curious how it could work at Hamilton, they spoke to another Marin school, and were given numerous chess boards and pieces. There was no turning back now!
Starting with 4th and 5th graders in 2017, the program started at lunch time. Eager students learned to play chess while eating their lunch. During nice weather, they took the program outside and the students would play chess at the lunch tables. This drew more interested students so the following year the program expanded to include 3rd through 8th graders. None of the 3rd graders knew how to play…yet. And this year the program includes 2nd graders.
However, the real Master behind the chess club is Carla Heredia, a Women’s Grand Master who played for Ecuador in the Women’s Chess Olympiads in 2008, 
2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. She has also represented Ecuador in 40 countries. Funded by an anonymous donor, Carla began working with the students in the fall of 2019 and added a competitive element to the program. “We want the students to have fun while learning chess,” says Carla Heredia, the Grand Master who recently joined the Hamilton team.
The chess club held its first tournament in December 2019. Over 30 students from Hamilton participated along with another 25 students from across the county. Another tournament is scheduled for April 18, 2020, at the Hamilton Gym. The long-term vision is to make Hamilton a recognized home for scholastic chess in the county and beyond.
“Here at Hamilton, we want to provide opportunities for students to develop skills and discover their passions,” said Steve Hospodar, Hamilton School Principal. “One opportunity is the chess program at Hamilton school. It teaches skill, perseverance and sportsmanship while having fun at the same time.”
The chess program is supported by donations, one donor being School Fuel, Novato’s Education Foundation. Through their fall grant process, School Fuel was able to provide $5,000 to the Hamilton chess program.