Rochester students battle to determine chess champion - KTTC Rochester, Austin, Mason City News, Weather and Sports

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC)- For 13 years now, area schools have been battling it out to see who has the superior players, but not on the hardwood or the gridiron. These students compete on the chess board.

Members of the Rochester Area Scholastic Chess League met up at Century High School Saturday for the 2013 City Cup. Teams from Century, Lourdes and a combined Mayo-Stewartville team put their skills to the test for the right to call themselves "kings" of the city.

Century has won 8 of the past 12 city cups since starting the competition.

Chess is one game that has stood the tests of time, keeping kids excited until someone says checkmate.

"There's a lot of variety in the way that pieces can move, as well as where players can move those pieces," explains Chuck Handlon with Rochester Public Schools. "So, once a student learns the game and really gets hooked on it, they want to just keep going to higher and higher levels. It sort of becomes as addictive, I think, as any video game would."

Century came out on top in this year's competition, claiming their 9th city cup in 13 tries.

The game of chess is not only used in competition in Rochester, but also as a social integration tool for those who are just coming into the country.