SOME say sport is played mostly between the ears, and none more so than the game of chess.
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There may be footy finals fever in the air, but there was a fervour in the halls of Tamworth Public School as 150 primary school students put their tactics to test on the chessboard.
You may debate whether chess is worthy of being called a sport, but much like the games played by their more physical sporting counterparts, the top chess players are renowned for resilience in the heat of battle.
Fifty teams from 11 local schools duked it out in the NSW junior chess league competition at Tamworth Public School on Friday, under the watch of coordinator Richard Gastineau-Hills.
Tournaments like this were held all over the state, from Armidale to Albury, with the top team from each comp securing an invite the finals to be hel in Sydney in November.
“I’ve been doing it for 25 or 26 years, something like that,” Mr Gastineau-Hills said.
“I used to play a lot, but I haven’t played competitively for about 10 years, too busy running tournaments.”
Having watched and played a great deal of chess in his time, Mr Gastineua-Hills spoke of the mental-toughness needed to be a good chess player.
“You need resilience, you need to be able to cope with difficult positions,” he said.
“Quite often in chess you’re in a tight difficult position and you have to work out your way through it.”
Calrossy’s Paul Sayad and Timbumburi’s Tiffany Allomes squared-off during the comp and both told The Leader they have become feared competitors in their own homes.
“My dad used to play me but he doesn’t want to anymore,” year five student Paul said.
“He doesn’t like playing anymore because he’s afraid that I might win.”
There was a similar story in the Allomes home.
“I beat my dad, but I still can’t beat my [twin] brother,” year six student Tiffany said.
The pair said it was the thinking game they liked most about chess.
“It’s a nice strategy game and it’s a lot of fun,” Paul said.
“It makes you think a lot and you don’t rush too much,” Tiffany said.
In terms of their game-winning strategy, it was all black and white.
“With white I always start with the same piece, with black I never start with the same piece,” Tiffany said.
A strategy echoed by Paul, who said he has a strategy from the start playing on the white side.