The tournament consists of 11 rounds. Individual matches can last up to five hours, depending on the intensity of the competitors.

The players in the tournament all have different experience and backgrounds. They come to Fort Myer from installations as close as New Jersey to Army outposts in Kuwait and Korea.

The top six finishers in the tournament will advance to the Inter-Service Tournament. Then the top three players plus three other players will advance to the NATO Chess Championship. The tournament is all funded through the U.S. Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command, including travel expenses to the final tournaments.

The Army is known for helping troops get physically and mentally fit, and the chess tournament is a part of that. While some may look at chess as a board game that helps to pass time, the dedicated players in the tournament beg to differ.

‘‘Chess teaches me discipline and how to think clearly,” said Pfc. Sherwin Duke who is participating in his first All Army Chess Tournament. ‘‘... when in an inferior position, it teaches me to think about the action first instead of acting emotionally.”

All of the participants use chess as a way to enhance their strategic skills and some say they can apply this skill to everyday life.

Pfc. Christopher King believes the game teaches him strategy — how to think ahead and how to be more disciplined.

‘‘It’s a mind game that just sticks with you.” says Pvt. David Corona, another first-timer in the tournament.

One innovation in this year’s tournament is coverage of the games on the Web site MonRoi, which allows viewers to watch live chess matches and record them from the Internet. Spectators can replay games and study winning moves. MonRoi also serves the chess community by hosting blogs and chat sessions during matches. If you haven’t been able to make it down to the Community Center this week, you can access the site at www.monroi.com and catch up on the competition.

MonRoi made its first appearance in Montreal in July 2007 during an international tournament. The site’s name means ‘‘My King” in French.

According to Sgt. Darryl West, it actually allows you to focus more on a chess match, instead of taking notes on your moves.

‘‘MonRoi is good because it takes less time to annotate,” said Pvt. Derek Shepherd, a tournament player. ‘‘You don’t worry about writing down your moves.”

West owns a MonRoi and takes advantage of the playback feature, viewing previous matches to learn from mistakes that players make. West was sent from Kuwait to Fort Myer to participate in the tournament. He said he believes most chess tournaments and players will adopt MonRoi, especially since the technology is improving.

Andy Hortillosa, a former active duty Soldier, played in the tournament and has advanced at least to the next round 10 times; this year he operates this new site for the tournament. ‘‘The advantage is score keeping; players don’t have to record their scores and moves in a game anymore.” Hortillosa said.