COEUR d’ALENE — Students on the chess performance team at Sorensen Magnet Middle School say the medieval game helps them with 21st century living.

“It helps me problem solve in real life situations,” sixth-grader Bradley Gilmore said Friday. “It’s a logical game. It reminds me of math.”

The game was created to teach military strategy to royalty without the expense of taking peasants away from their jobs in order to hold field exercises, said sixth-grade teacher and team coach William Vaughan. Rooks on a chess board are like castles, bishops are mobile-like archers, knights represent cavalry, and pawns stand for ordinary soldiers, said Vaughan.

He introduced the chess performance team program when he arrived at Sorensen years ago. He created games such as “Queen Quest” and “Knight Fight” to teach his students the capabilities and limitations of each chess piece. Students take ownership of their wins and losses during pool play, and compete to win points that earn them a place in the program’s champions league. The names of the top four competitors from grades K-2, 3-4, and 5-6 end up on a Stanley Cup-like trophy that Vaughan hopes will be around for decades to come.

At first only six students took part in 2011, but now 25 to 30 students regularly participate and up to 60 belong to the program, he said. His program teaches graciousness and humility as essential skills of a chess player.

“If we don’t do that, no one wants to play with us,” he said.

The skills are also key to growing into maturity, added Vaughan. He emphasizes the importance of coming up with a strategy and sticking to it throughout the entire game. From a four-move open all the way through checkmate, students learn to utilize each piece, limitations and all, to capture the opposing king.

Fifth-grader Nathan Pulsipher said playing chess helps him better understand historical military events. Rather than try to picture masses of military units when learning about a war, Pulsipher said he visualizes chess pieces. Fourth-grader Ethan Rumpler said he also has learned how to think strategically through the game of chess. Third-grader Finn Balich said chess has had a very practical application for him: Planning a strategy to deal with mean kids on the playground.

Sixth-grader Nathan Edmonds is on his way to earning a record fifth appearance in the champions league, said Vaughan.

Nathan said he likes the strategy and challenge that the game offers. At tournaments he has to apply strategy to each opponent he faces, he added.

Vaughan is the consummate educator who has coached 54 teams in many different sports over the last 14 years and has no plans of stopping, he said. He praised his students for their creativity and innovativeness. Unlike adults, he said kids are malleable enough to find their way around problems on the chess board.

“Chess becomes this beautiful place where the agility shows up,” Vaughan said.

He encourages students to introduce their family and friends to the game. It’s a lifelong game and can be a lot of fun, he explained. Judging by the excitement and confidence his students displayed, he’s right.