With the fifth-place plaque they won at the National Chess Congress in November and a trophy won at a Temple University-based tournament earlier this year are Central chess team members, from left, Albert Burton (274), Sammy Tran (277), Elijah Rowe (277), Kaifeng Zhou (277), No. 1 seed in the scholastic league Damian Suarez (276) and Mr. Copeland (260)
By Yvonne Dennis (246)
Though they are some of the most successful competitors gracing the halls of Central High School these days, it’s hard to get members of the chess team to smile, even when they’re posing for a picture.
“Gotta wear your chess face,” says team member Damian Suarez (276). If your opponent in a match makes a killer move or some huge blunder, you can’t let him see you react. The match ain’t over till somebody’s checkmated.
Well Damian must know of what he speaks because the sophomore, who has only been playing chess for about two years, was the No. 1 seed in the Scholastic League heading in to the school district’s final competition of the season today. He won all but one of his matches this year–a loss he describes as “a huge upset.”
And Central’s entire team held a half-point lead for first place heading in to Tuesday’s final–half a point. (You’ll have to read to the end to find out what happened.)
After going undefeated last year only to lose in the seminfinals of the playoffs, the Lancers were ready to settle for nothing less than the championship this year. But that doesn’t mean they would be jumpy.
“Patience is key,” said team coach and Central math teacher Christopher Copeland (260). “In that chess match if they don’t use that clock wisely, one wrong move can really end the chess game for you and you can end it fast.”
“Those loses are tough losses and they teach you to be patient next time,” he explained. “Sometimes the only way you can learn that lesson is to lose a game that you know you had won but weren’t patient enough to take the time with that move and just have that victory snatched from you in an instant.”
Through last year, varsity chess competition in the school district was team vs. team play. A team might typically have seven-10 members but in competition teams play five on five. Each one of the five plays one game in a timed match. After a player takes his or her turn, he/she hits the clock for the opponent’s time to begin. Each player gets 60 minutes. If a player’s clock runs out, he/she automatically loses.
For this year, however, the school district changed the format, playing all the students in one group. Teams would bring all their players, up to seven from each school, and players would be paired in a Swiss tournament system, Mr. Copeland explained. Points were then tallied up by team.
The format was changed to resolve problems like teams not showing up for matches or busing headaches, Mr. Copeland said. “This was a win-win situation,” he said of the new format. “I always have a team of five. I like the fact of knowing that all five of them are going to play regardless as to what happens and it kind of puts the onus on you as a coach.”
Central’s entire squad of 10 or 11 committed players, however, does get plenty of playing time, as district play allows seven players to compete (taking only the scores of the top five) and many regional tournaments allow more than five players.
“I like being in a chess environment,” says freshman team member Sammy Tran (277). “It’s like a sports team but it’s not physical, it’s mental.” Sammy said he noticed his game improve throughout the season and he looks forward to returning to the team next year.
Another freshman team member, Elijah Rowe, finished an incredible second in the state open, unrated playoffs in Lancaster last month. Out of 30 teams Central finished 6th at the state competition. “We also had one person finish 1st in the bughouse competition,” Mr. Copeland said, speaking about a variant of chess. “Another team of ours finished second so we dominated the bughouse. Now we have to carry the domination to the regular chess.”
Mr. Copeland was a formidable chess player himself for Central as a student and still competes in tournaments.
“I love chess myself,” he said. “I’m getting my hands dirty just as much as the kids. I feel the same agony of defeat and the same joy in victory that they feel.”
One of the joys he feels as an instructor now is seeing players’ improvement over a season and over a few years. “I’ve had people come in here, started from scratch with no chess knowledge at all and be able to go and compete. Two of my top players, they have defeated adults in tournaments, won money, hundreds of dollars. That’s just incredible to see that–to see them grow to that point.” Chess is so beneficial to student performance, he believes, that he’d like to see it integrated into the math curriculum in some way.
Meanwhile, there are also some not-so-joyous aspects that come with being an unpaid coach trying to equip your team with the best aids available.
“We always have a need for supplies,” Mr. Copeland said. “We have a lot of students who don’t have their own clocks, their own boards. Most of our boards are pretty old.” He would also like to buy software so students can practice tactics.
And, hey, as a team, members want to look like a team.
“We go up against teams that have jerseys, that have shirts to represent their school,” Mr Copeland said. “We went up against a team that had cardigans and we’re walking up in there like the next group on ‘Lean on Me’ ” he said with a laugh.
The team has had some fundraisers and is considering having a school wide tournament but that has to be carefully thought out because of potential gambling issues.
If they have such a tournament, alumni will be encouraged to participate. Mr. Copeland said. Alumni are also invited to join chess team members and club members who play just for the experience every Friday after school year-round.
Alumni can play along with the Central team at the National Chess Congress every November in Philadelphia. Any resources alumni might want to donate would be appreciated. Mr. Copeland can be reached at cecopeland@philasd.org.
So how did Central come out in the finale of that Swiss tournament today that would determine the district champion?
“It was a close call and they will be tallying league points results over the next couple of days,” Mr. Copeland said. “We either finished first or second but the points were so close in the final rounds that it was too close to immediately call.”
We’ll update you as soon as we know.
