Waypoint holds chess tournament Saturday

EPHRATA - The sixth annual Waypoint Foundation Scholastic Chess Tournament is Saturday.

Check-in begins at 7:45 a.m., with the final round of competition expected to finish by 3 p.m., at the Parkway Elementary School cafeteria, 1011 Parkway Blvd., in Ephrata.

The tournament is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade who live or attend school in the Ephrata, Moses Lake, Quincy and Soap Lake school districts, including public, private and home-school students.

There is no registration fee, but participation is capped at 100 students, said Troy Pugh, of the Waypoint Foundation. The registration deadline is noon Saturday as space permits.

As of Friday, 73 students had registered, said Pugh.

Applications are available at school offices or at www.waypointfoundation.org.

The Foundation usually gives way $1,500 to $2,000 in prize money, said Pugh, although exact prize amounts aren't known until the day of the tournament when they know for sure how many students are registered.

As children, Troy and his brothers competed in a chess tournament in Lynden, Wash.

"My brother Ryan won it three times. We had three other wins within the family as well," he said. "It was an annual thing we did as a family."

After Ryan died in an automobile accident in 2001, Troy and his brother Roger thought a chess tournament was the perfect way to memorialize him, said Troy.

"It was specifically tied to Ryan's success as a player when he was a youth," he said.

The tournament also allows them to give back to the community and gives students the chance to develop many different skills, including math and rational thinking, he said. Studies have shown playing chess is an effective way for kids to exercise their minds, he said.