Dozens of 5th-graders take part in annual Urban Youth Chess Tournament



SEATTLE -- Lots of kids put their analytical thinking tools to work Tuesday on Beacon Hill.

Dozens of 5th-graders went head-to-head on the chess board at the annual Urban Youth Chess Tournament, sponsored by Seattle Police Detective D. "Cookie" Bouldin.

Students from Van Asselt and South Shore elementary schools competed for the title of top chess player.

Detective Cookie started the club 12 years ago as a way to get kids involved in a positive activity and to make new friends.

"My goals is to find some kind of activity that's an alternative to drugs and negative behavior and chess is a way for these kids to get out of that particular environment that they may be in, or they may be living," Bouldin said.

The chess club meets every Tuesday after school at the Rainier Beach Library and Saturdays at the Rainier Beach Community Center from noon to 2 p.m.