Larisa Garpstas and Brian Malek have never been so happy to be winless.

The advisers have yet to defeat a student during the first year of Conestoga Elementary School's chess club.

The organization is the creation of teacher Caroline Demangone. "She played some of her students, and it just kind of took off very organically," said Malek.

Demangone is enjoying the opportunity to pass along her fondness for the game of kings and queens. "I have a group of kids this year who showed an interest in chess," she said. "I fell in love with chess when I was in elementary school. My dad (Mark Lovett) taught me how to play. He instilled a love for chess in me when I was a kid, so I got really excited that these kids knew how to play chess. I don't hear a lot of people talking about chess anymore."

She went to work. "I asked around to see how many kids would be interested if I started a chess club," said Demangone. "Dr. (Kim) Garvey, our gifted teacher here at Conestoga, started a chess club at Eshelman Elementary. She helped me get it off the ground. We have 27 kids in second, third, and fourth (grades) who have come every week. We've been doing it for about two and a half months now. The kids have just shown up and been excited about it, and I've gotten so much better from the the first time we met. ... It's been a pretty competitive hour of our time every week after school. It's been fun."

Garpstas and Malek were intrigued. "I couldn't believe some of my second-graders that joined the club could play, and I thought, 'I'm 53 years old. I need to learn how to play this game,'" said Garpstas. "I was really inspired by the kids, and, wow, they're really good."

The three advisers share a simple mission. "From the beginning, we've really talked to them and stressed to them about respecting the game," Malek said. "Caroline told them you shake hands to start the game, shake hands to end the game. And so really, it's all the skills, the complex thinking skills. It's that spirit of competition, being a good winner, being a good loser, all of those skills that they would really use."

The students are not the only people gaining knowledge. "I am learning forward thinking and logical planning ahead of all the different moves I can make, but also that my opponent will make," Garpstas said. "I think the kids are teaching me that, too. They've been really interesting and showing me possible moves, so sort of teaching me along the way as we play together."

The Conestoga Elementary School chess club meets weekly after classes have been dismissed for the day. Demangone plans to continue the group for the rest of this year and into the future. "I just sent an email out to parents to see if it would be something that they would want to continue into the spring because we'd only set eight or nine dates to meet," she said. "I wanted to see if people were interested in continuing it, and it was almost unanimous that everyone wanted to continue."

Students might compete against other schools this spring. "The IU-13 is hosting a tournament in April," Demangone said. "I did some research and found out about it and talked to our PTO about helping fund it. We're going to try and get that moving in the next couple weeks."

The students are looking forward to the challenge. Third-grader Joel Franssen learned chess from his father, Jordan, when he was 3 years old. "I like chess, and I want to play against new people," Joel said. "I'm just starting to play better and finding a way to take every piece."

Second-grader Nash Polaski also picked up the game thanks to his father, Erik. "It's very fun and challenging," Nash said. "I enjoy chess, just playing against other opponents. I like playing against the hard ones the most, because it gives me a little bit more of a challenge. It makes it a little more fun, but I'm also OK playing with the easier ones."

Malek and Garpstas gladly acknowledge they are perhaps the two easiest opponents. "I have not won a game yet, but I'm learning," Malek said. "Every game I am getting better. So yes, we are being beaten by third- and second-graders and fourth-graders."

"I too have lost each time to a student," Garpstas added. "They're really good. I have no idea how to play chess. I'll admit it. Some of the kids have just started learning before they came to chess club."

Demangone, on the other hand, is enjoying significantly more success. "There are two kids, maybe more, who I have not been able to beat," she said. "They're really, really good."

Most importantly, Demangone wants students to learn lessons that will last a lifetime. "I hope that they take from this a love for the game of chess and want to share it with other people in their lives because it's such an awesome way for people to practice their problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills," she said. "You really have to think multiple steps ahead to be good at this game. I hope they gain experience in those areas and knowledge about that and also a love for the game itself that they want to share and instill in others."