Shut down the video games, these youngsters have their eyes on the chess board.

In a world in which so many children are fixated on beeping images on a computer screen, it’s refreshing to see Lawrence youngsters poring over chess boards.

It’s even more surprising — and impressive — when those youngsters are elementary-school age students from kindergarten through third grade. That’s the group that gathers each Monday during the summer at the home of John Conard.

As described in Monday’s Journal-World, the students at Quail Run School don’t just play chess; they study the game. Two other teams include older students and make up a school team that competes in tournaments and has placed first and second in national competition.

But the goal of the team, and its coaches, isn’t just to win awards. It’s easy to see how playing chess would hone a student’s ability to concentrate and reason through difficult problems. Those are skills that obviously will serve them well in school, as well as in life.

Hats off to the Quail Run chess players and the adults who nurture their interest. It’s a winning strategy for everyone involved.