Knights, Bishops, Kings and Queens - these are the terms that are becoming familiar to a group of students at the Clara H. Carlson School who are part of a new chess club, introducing students to the intricacies of the strategy game.

At Carlson, opportunities available to students include an art club, computer club and library club. Now, there is also a chess club that enables students in grades 4, 5 and 6, to learn and compete and play the classic game.

"One of the things which I always wanted to do, which I did in the city as a building principal, was a chess club," said school Principal Matt Zagami, who contacted Chess in the Schools, a not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to stimulating and enhancing learning skills by teaching chess to kindergarten through eighth grade children in New York's inner-city public schools, and asked if the organization could provide chess sets.

Chess in the Schools donated five chess sets for use at the Clara H. Carlson School, which Mr. Zagami utilized in concert with the computer program, Chessmaster 7000, which was installed on the computers in the school's new computer lab as well as in Mr. Sean Murray's classroom.

Mr. Murray used the computer program to help teach students the basics of the game. "Basically what we want to do is develop their skills in the way of predictability and sportsmanship just to get them into higher order thinking skills," Mr. Zagami said.

The club meets every Monday afternoon from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. with Mr. Murray serving as the moderator with the 10 students involved in the club conducting mini-tournaments.

Mr. Zagami hoped to start an intra-mural program within the district. That has not happened yet, although some of the other schools in the district could emulate the program.

"There are a million different things they are getting out of it," said Mr. Zagami of children playing chess and the process of making decisions relating to strategically moving pieces and anticipating their opponents' moves. "There are a lot of good things that are going on with that particular club."

Numerous studies show that chess benefits children academically, improves problem-solving skills and helps to develop critical thinking and logic skills. Plus, chasing down your opponent's king with forces that are unique in their movements is not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

The Clara H. Carlson chess club is another example of the school trying to implement programs to give a well-rounded educational experience and its principal sharing his interests with the students.

Mr. Zagami, who has also been a professional guitarist for 40 years, helped create a district jazz band. He is now working on a program whereby he will teach a guitar seminar for fifth and sixth graders. For the lessons, Mr. Zagami has received a donation of 12 guitars from the Martin Guitar Company.

By instituting these groups, children can not only relate to their principal, but they can also learn and be challenged artistically and intellectually in addition to their experience within the boundaries of the traditional classroom environment.

"I firmly believe that children obviously need the academics and they need to know the basics and they need to be challenged as well. We also need to develop the other side of the kid and that is the artistic side of a child, the intellectual side of child that may not necessarily be viewed as book learning - the practical skills, the every day skills that kids are going to need to develop as they get older and as they get into high school and beyond," said Mr. Zagami. "Also, I don't want kids to look at school as just a place where they go to read and write and do what they consider to be the boring day--to-day things of studying. I want them to view the schools as a place to learn just about anything they want to learn."