Elementary Chess Lessons Interview
"Mr. Mark" Lencho Leads a Lesson
by Linda Maybee
“Mr. Mark”, as the students call him, and his wife Elizabeth joined our school community in December of this school year when their daughter joined our Children’s House Program. On Friday afternoons Mr. Mark takes time away from his role as a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to come to our Rock Prairie Montessori School to lead the 
elementary class in a series of lessons about the game of Chess. This is one of the many ways our parents fulfill their parent serve hours during the school year.
The elementary students have really been enjoying these lessons and have become very engaged in the strategies of the game. Some of the students have played the game before and other’s have been learning for the first time. Cavan and Scott have both played the game before. Scott enjoys playing the game on his computer. Evan is new to the game of chess. Yet, all three boys have learned something new about the game.
One of the new things that all students have learned and seem to be very excited about is “stalemate”. Stalemate is a way for a defender to save the game when very behind.
Here are some of the things these students shared with me during this interview:
What is something you have learned from Mr. Mark? Cavan: “I have learned that a King and Queen against another King is a strong force.” Scott: “How to move diagonal to capture the opponent’s pieces and that a knight can go over other pieces.” Evan: “How to have two checkmates in a row.”
What are some of the rules you have learned? All of the boys shared the following: “You must shake hands with your opponent before and after each game. There is no ‘kibbitzing’ (talking) during the game unless you are announcing a ‘check’, ‘checkmate’ or ‘stalemate’. And you cannot touch the board pieces unless it is your turn and you plan to move that piece. However, in tournaments you can say ‘I adjust’ in French when you touch a piece that you did not plan to move.”
What have you learned and like about Mr. Mark? Cavan: “He is a nice teacher. He is the only male teacher in our school;(and) he is very good at chess.” Scott: “He makes it easy to learn 
chess.” All of the boys shared that Mr. Mark has played chess in tournaments for money and this helped him raise extra money for his family growing up. Mr. Mark has played tournament chess since he was 15 years old.
Do you play Chess at home? All three boys have Chess boards at home. Caven says “I like to play Chess against my dad and hope to beat him someday.” Scott mentioned “I play Chess on the computer and against my dad. My dad doesn’t know about stalemate. At least, he hasn’t’ told me he does, so I hope to beat him someday. But, I like to play on the computer the best.” Evan stated, “I have started to play against my mom, dad and grandma. I have really enjoyed playing at home.”
What are things that playing Chess teaches you about life? This is the list of things the boys answered:
Chess help you learn strategy
It makes you smarter
Chess teaches patience
It helps you learn good sportsmanship
And it gives you something to do when you are bored
What else have you learned about Chess? Evan mentioned that “Lightening Chess is when you have to have a checkmate within a certain amount of time”. All of the boys are looking forward to learning more about playing against the clock. In fact, Cavan will be playing a game of Chess against Mr. Mark using the clock. All of the boys are excited about this match. They also expressed that they really enjoy learning new strategies to the game.
The boys enjoy the stories that Mr. Mark shares with them about his experiences with chess and what happens at tournaments. One story they particularly enjoyed was about a tournament between a teenager and an older “older” man. In the final round the older “older” man won the match and walked away with thousands of dollars in winnings. This seemed to humor the boys.
Cavan, Scott and Evan all expressed their gratitude toward Mr. Mark for coming to the school and taking time to teach the students. They look forward to their Chess lessons each week.
It was a joy to hear how excited the elementary students are about these lessons with Mr. Lencho. During a recent indoor recess I observed several elementary students playing chess down in the Commons. It is truly priceless to see the smiles on their faces and discussions they were having as they played the game. In fact, I plan to get out my chess board at home and sharpen my game.
We are pleased to post a new article from Heidi Walters from the Montessori Initiative. Feel free to download the