The robust turnout for a kids’ chess tournament in northeast Colorado Springs has event officials feeling optimistic about the growing popularity of the game.

Nearly 80 young competitors spent their Saturday at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church to play in the Scholastic Chess Tournament, an informal, unrated competition designed to help players from kindergarten through eighth grade sharpen their skills. Tournament organizers also want to nurture a “chess culture” in the Colorado Springs area.

People have been playing chess, which was invented in India, for more than 1,500 years. But in 2020, two events contributed to a surge in the game’s popularity in the U.S. and abroad.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced school closures, made people go out in public with their lower faces covered like Wild West stagecoach bandits, and altered everyday life for at least two years. But it also brought an increase in online chess participation, according to Chess.com.

Rebecca Graham, a tournament coordinator whose three children competed, said that during the pandemic her son, Caleb, learned the nuances of the game while playing with his grandfather, who has polio.

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Saturday’s competition was a “Swiss tournament,” a round-robin series of games where no one is eliminated. The player with the most points at the end is the winner.

Krish Ravi placed first in the K-3 division. Diya Thoutem won all five of her games to garner the First Place trophy in the Grade 4-8 division. Caleb Graham, Rebecca’s son, placed second.

“My father couldn’t run around and play with the grandkids because of his condition,” Graham said. “But chess was something they could do together.”

Also in 2020, Netflix released “The Queen’s Gambit,” a hugely popular miniseries that led to a spike in chess set sales and online chess platform registrations.

“Most of the kids here are a little young to watch ‘The Queen’s Gambit,’ but there’s no denying that the show has had an effect on the popularity of the game,” said Earle Wikle, president of the Colorado State Chess Association and tournament director.

Because her kids’ school didn’t have a chess club – and because Caleb and Katelyn have become too competitive to play against each other – Graham decided to start an informal chess group by extending a social media invitation to some local parents. The turnout, she said, was stunning.

“It was just a little ‘mom blog’ on Facebook,” she said. “We had 40 kids show up!”

“I think it’s funny that my wife accidentally started a chess club, just because she wanted to find some kids to play with ours,” said Jason Graham, Rebecca’s husband.

Library 21c is where Graham met Wikle, a chess instructor and former candidate master-level player.

“We kind of ran into each other when I was giving lessons one day,” Wikle said. “Now, we’re running tournaments together.”

Saturday’s tournament was split into two divisions — kindergarten through third grade, and fourth through eighth — with trophies for the top players in each division and several prizes.

“Official tournaments are really structured and a little subdued, and they kind of need to be,” Graham said. “We wanted something a little more fun and festive.”

Chess advocates say that, in addition to being fun, the game helps kids develop valuable skills, including critical thinking, visualization, planning and problem solving. According to tournament organizer George Krasnopolskiy, sportsmanship is also a key component of the game.

“It teaches kids that losing is not the end of the world, and it teaches them how to win gracefully,” said Krasnopolskiy, who was born in Russia. “The kids don’t even have to speak the same language as the kids they’re playing against, because chess is a universal language.”

According to the National Scholastic Chess Foundation, the game also helps with academic development, particularly in math.

Saturday’s competition was a “Swiss tournament,” a round-robin series of games where no one is eliminated. The player with the most points at the end is the winner.

Krish Ravi placed first in the K-3 division. Diya Thoutem won all five of her games to garner the first-place trophy in the grade 4-8 division. Caleb Graham, Rebecca’s son, placed second.

“I like that age doesn’t matter in chess,” Caleb said. “You can play someone who’s 8, or you can play someone who’s 80.”

“I love that whenever I lose, I get to learn something, a new strategy or tactic,” said Thoutem, who was also named the tournament’s Queen of Chess. “And when I win, I feel happy.”

Krasnopolskiy said he hopes the accessibility of chess will continue to draw young people to the game.

“When we came to this country, we didn’t really have any money, so there were a lot of activities we couldn’t participate in,” he said. “If you wanted to play on a football team, you had to pay for pads. For hockey, you needed skates. For baseball, you needed cleats and a glove. But a standard chess set doesn’t cost much. Chess is completely accessible.”

Katelyn Graham, right, faces off against eventual division winner Diya Thoutem in the Fall Scholastic Tournament in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

O’Dell Isaac, The Gazette

Krish Ravi, left, won the K-3 division of the Fall Scholastic Chess Tournament on Saturday. Diya Thoutem won the Grade 4-8 division and was also named the tournament’s Queen of Chess.

O’Dell Isaac, The Gazette