The halls at St. Gilbert’s School, Grayslake, often echo with talk about kings and queens and castles. But it’s not the Crusades or a Middle Ages history lesson that has grabbed the kids’ attention.

It’s chess.

And members of the St. Gilbert chess club—some only kindergarteners—recently took first place in a national chess tournament.

Nor was this their first win. Club members have attained many honors while participating in chess tournaments during the six years the group has been in existence.

The chess club is the brainchild of Frank Windell, the father of seven children, five of whom are St. Gilbert students. He began his mission to teach youngsters chess because he loved the game and believed they could learn the skills necessary to master it.

“My daughter was five when she first starting playing,” he said. “Her brother was then four and not about to let his sister do something he couldn’t. So he learned, too.”

Windell approached the then-St. Gilbert’s school principal with his idea. The principal was amazed that children so young could learn to play, he said. And that some were competing in tournaments just astonished her, he said.

Windell and his wife, Cynthia—also a long-time chess player—sent fliers to St. Gilbert’s families and got 75 students the first time around.

The first problem was the lack of chessboards. A UPS strike had delayed shipment, but chess teachers had a strategic responses: “My wife and I separated the youngsters into two groups and drew pictures on the blackboard of the pieces and the moves,” Windell said.

How does a young child master the intricate moves of chess pieces? By teaching them to play one chess piece at a time over an eight-week period instead of approaching the full board from the beginning, Windell said.

“This way students learn how each piece moves and attacks. After learning each piece, we then put them all together. It’s a much easier method of learning chess and I think the reason St. Gilbert’s youngsters are so successful.”

Windell says he tells students to go home and teach their parents once they’ve mastered a piece and its moves.

“The parents want to learn, too,” he added.

There are about 55 members in the club now, with 20 to 30 actively participating in tournaments at any given time. The average age is about eight or nine years old. Fourteen are in kindergarten.

And, they’re good.

Recently, fifth-graders took first place in the All Grade State Championship Chess Tournament. The K-6 Blitz team took first place in the National Youth Action Chess Tournament, which had more than 700 participants. Individual St. Gilbert students walked away with trophies ranging from second to 10th place.

“We’ve won the state tournament two years in a row,” said Windell. “We’re the smallest and only Catholic school to win it.”

The kids get around, too. Chess tournaments have taken students on local and state tours. Windell says some of his club members have been to Arizona, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and Florida.

“St. Gilbert holds rallies for us, announces our wins and displays the trophies,” Windell said. “We have a fish-fry fundraiser to defray some of the expenses of going on tour.”

Windell says a tournament tour is a family affair for St. Gilbert’s students. He requires parent-involvement but it is not uncommon to see aunts, uncles and grandparents come to watch the children play. “Parents bring lunches, teach other games or help with homework; it’s like one big picnic.”

Windell would like to see more schools here integrate chess into curriculum. That’s worked, he said, in New York City public schools where studies show that student chess players’ academic scores increase 19 percent a year.

“Parents of children involved in sports like hockey who also play chess tell us they notice their children thinking more on the ice than being physical. Student chess players also tend not to watch as much television.”

Now he’s trying to encourage more girls to participate in playing chess. “There are 30 boys to every girl who plays,” he said.

What big moves for the future? Windell said he has his eyes set on St. Gilbert’s winning the overall national title. “It’s very hard to beat a big team but we’ll do it some day,” he stated. But he also wants to organize a Catholic school chess tournament.

“Maybe the winners would get free or reduced tuition or some variation on that theme,” he added.

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