Who cares about checkmate?

At the Switlik School in Jackson, New Jersey they run an annual chess tournament using this interesting rule:

“We determine winners by assigning point values to each of the chess pieces,” Henderson said. “At the end of the allotted time for the match, the points are totaled to determine the winner.”

I don't suspect gambits and sacrifices are particularly popular. But apparently, the prize for the winner is:

The winner this year was fifth-grader Matt Moran, who also won last year’s tournament as a fourth-grader. As a bonus, Matt has played a special match against the principal of the school for each of the two years the event has been held. “Last year Matt beat Ron Janesko,” Henderson said. “This year he was beaten by our current principal, Terry Kenney."

Here's a photo of that game:

Check out the multi-media set-up and the scoreboard (for counting those point values as the game progresses).

Courtesy of the Tri-Town News.