St. Anne Catholic School in Cornwall’s west end hosted a unique human chess match on June 25, 2024. Students dressed as chess pieces and moved across a large chessboard painted on the backyard grass. This event marked the last week of school before summer vacation, and other classes watched and cheered.
“We are having an outdoor chess match, and the students will be dressed up in pieces of the chess game,” said Nancy MacGillivray, a Student Support Worker at St. Anne’s. MacGillivray, who has run chess clubs at Sacred Heart and St. Anne’s for several years, shared her enthusiasm, stating, “I’ve always wanted to have an outdoor chess match. It’s a little bit of a dream, and one of my colleagues, Chantal Gadbois, said let me make this happen, and she designed the pieces for the students.”
Grade 6 student Josh Cordell, a chess enthusiast for two years, commented, “It’s cool how the game is coming to life instead of just playing it on the board.” He added, “There’s always a different way to checkmate someone.”
