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Shawn Bunner and Kandee Stopp play a game of chess at Sequoyah High School.

TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - Sequoyah High School (SHS) students are learning to play chess, with the hopes of forming a competitive chess team.

"I think it’s a game that makes people smarter, no matter what age they are when they learn to play," said Mae Dean Erb, chess instructor with the American Indian Resource Center.

According to research done by the American Indian Resource Center, students who play chess on a regular basis score better in the areas of math and reading than their non-chess playing counterparts.

"Chess makes the kids think about the consequences of their actions without even realizing it," Erb said. "It mirrors life in a lot of ways."

Erb is teaching the chess game in the SHS math classes, but soon the school will have a chess club that will play matches against each other and other schools in the area.

"We have a lot of interest in it (chess)," said Elvina Nez, SHS math teacher. "I hope we can get other schools to join us."

Sequoyah hopes to host their first competitive chess tournament next fall.

For more information on the SHS chess club, contact Elvina Nez, phone: 918-456-0631.

Sequoyah High School "Home of the Indians!" P.O. Box 520, Tahlequah, OK 74465             Sequoyah High School Alumni P.O. Box 187, Park Hill, OK 74451-0187 Sequoyah High School, an Indian boarding school, originated in 1871, when the Cherokee National Council passed an act setting up an orphan asylum to take care of many orphans that came out of the Civil War. Sequoyah High School's approximate 300 enrollment represents 42 tribes and 14 different states. Students are eligible to attend if they are members of federally recognized Indian tribes or one-fourth blood descendants of such members.