Lansing - The sound of chess pieces hitting the game board was all that could be heard while players had looks of intense concentration on Saturday during a children's chess tournament.

The players were as young as 5 years old.

Thirty elementary schools from the Lansing and East Lansing area gathered 120 elementary-aged students to compete at Everett High School, 3900 Stabler St.

The students from the Montessori Children's House, 2100 W. St. Joseph St., beat 29 other schools winning the tournament.

The school has been the state champions at the K-5 level for the past two years.

The team had 33 participants, many of them kindergartners, parent and coach Jan White said.

White's two children, 10-year-old Ben and 7-year-old Noah, have been playing chess at the Montessori school ever since she brought chess into the school's curriculum.

She felt the need for a class that taught children chess during school, rather than only in an after-school program.

The students can play chess as many as three times a day if they choose to, White said.

"I wanted chess to be an on-going activity," she said. "We see the wonderful value in chess to foster academics and attention."

More than 110 students signed up to get involved with chess classes during the regular school day, White said.

White and her husband, Glen, plan on starting a chess scholarship program once their children no longer attend the Montessori Children's House to make sure the chess program remains strong.

"I believe that chess and academics go hand in hand to facilitate higher learning for children," she said. "Without that, we as parents and educators are missing the true spirit of giving our children what they want."

White received a coach's award at the Saturday tournament.

"I consider myself a mentor and a supporter," she said. "I wasn't sure what to expect of the tournament."

Michael Williams, organizer of Saturday's event, teaches chess at Walnut and Grand River elementary schools and has been involved with teaching children how to play for the past 20 years.

"I consider myself a brain electrician," he said. "I put the knowledge into their heads and they use it."

He organized his own chess club called the Mid West Chess Club Forwards, although most of the members refer to the group as Mr. William's Chess Children, Williams said.

"I love pushing children into chess," he said. "It helps their brains like no other game can."