Vivian Stevens sweeps her ringed fingers over a row of ivory pawns.

“These aren’t important? Or are they?”

Second-grader Matthew McCann leans over from the next chess board and peers at Stevens’ move.

“In the end of the game, they’re really good,” he said.

Matthew, a Blakely student, is a member of the Bainbridge Island Black Knights, and one of many children making chess moves at the Madison Avenue Retirement Center on Wednesday.

More than 20 Black Knights – ranging from second through sixth grade – visited the retirement center for an intergenerational chess hour.

Students from Bainbridge schools participate in the after-school chess club – boasting more than 115 members – which is operated through Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Parks and Recreation Department.

Other island organizations – from the Bainbridge Fire Department to the West Sound Wildlife Shelter – are scheduled to visit Madison Avenue and Wyatt House each month.

“We’ve been working since October and almost every single call we’ve made, people have jumped on board,” said Molly Hogger, outreach coordinator for Madison Avenue and Wyatt House. “It’s pretty incredible because it shows how Bainbridge is willing to help out.”

The goal, Hogger said, is to bring community events – that many residents are unable to attend – into the retirement centers.

Matthew shifts his attention back to his own chess board, where he’s facing off against Joan Smith.

“You want to give me some advice here?” Smith says to a passing Black Knight. “What should I do?”

Even though Smith was winning, she didn’t underestimate the state tournament medal-winner sitting across the board.

“Move any move that looks good,” Matthew said with a mischievous smile.

A few minutes later, Matthew secured the victory with a checkmate.

For many of the residents in attendance, the hour was an opportunity to learn, or re-learn, the basics of chess.

“He was amazed that I forgot (the game) in 50 years,” Smith said with a laugh.

Madison Avenue has many activities which involve children, she said, but the chess event has been one of the biggest hits.

“They come and sing a lot,” Smith said. “This is more fun – but I want checkers.”

At a round table in the corner, fourth-grade student Ellis Patrick explains the different pieces to Elsie Lund.

She adjusts her turquoise fedora then picks up a black knight.

“It can move three up and one across,” she said, sliding it across the board. “And this is a bishop – he moves diagonally.”

The pair starts a simplified game of chess using only the rook, knight, queen and king, and Ellis begins to explain the object of the game.

The Black Knights

Mark Cohen, coach of the Black Knights, starts newcomers with a game called “take me chess.”

“You try to lose all your pieces,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to learn than real chess. It teaches the kids how they move and how they take. One of the challenging things to teach is the visual skills. For some kids they come naturally, but some kids have to work really hard. It helps them see those skills before they start to play real chess because they’re so essential to being a chess player.”

Black Knights also learn strategy at the weekly meetings.

“Some of the logic is so counter-intuitive, sometimes the quickest way and the best way to get where you want to go is to go the opposite direction,” Cohen said. “You have to come around it to get where you want to come to.”

The club holds chess tournaments on the island once a month from October through April, Cohen said, and students can qualify for the state tournament in Tacoma, which is just two weeks away.

“You see this room full of hundreds of kids and they’re all totally focused. From kindergarten up to sixth grade. They don’t look like kids. They look like young adults playing the game of chess, then when the games are over, they go outside and start playing like kids again.”

Like any craft, improvement can only be achieved by diligent practice.

“That’s part of the beauty of chess,” Cohen said. “It’s a type of activity that the kid works at it, he’ll quickly become a fairly good player. Most of my kids can eat their parents. It’s very rare for a parent to beat a child who is really interested in the game.”

Stevens will take the skills she learned Wednesday to play chess with her great-grandson.

“I’m learning – you’d be surprised,” she said. “You have to open your mind.”