Chess team headed to national competition
Thirty-two pieces are set on the board, 16 in front of each opponent. After multiple calculated maneuvers, attacks and counter attacks, the clock runs until one player announces “check mate.”
The Lenape High School chess team went undefeated for the 2013 season, winning the South Jersey High School Chess League Tournament. But the team’s journey has yet to end. It is headed to the national competition in Nashville, Tenn., from April 5 to 7.
According to team advisor and physics teacher James Hessler, the team had an undefeated season of 10 wins, won the SJ Chess Tournament and the New Jersey High School Chess Championship.
Throughout the regular season, Lenape played teams from Eastern, Cherokee, Trenton Catholic Academy, Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West.
Hessler said the regular season matches are against the most difficult teams.
“They make it as difficult as possible to win,” he said, adding the most difficult team to beat during the regular season was Cherry Hill East.
Cherry Hill East’s team, having a “tradition of excellence,” finished the 2013 season 8–2, he said. But Lenape managed to defeat Cherry Hill East, along with all teams it faced.
When the team moved onto the state championship, it played teams from Bergen Academy, Sparta, South Brunswick and Christian Brothers Academy.
“Those are the powerhouses,” Hessler said, adding every silent match is intense and every move determines whether you win.
There is more behind a game of chess than moving a bunch of pieces around on a black and white checkered board. Hessler compared chess matches to the time he spent coaching the Lenape boys soccer team.
“Chess matches are as comparably intense as soccer,” he said.
The matches are physically and mentally exhausting. Each player must sit for up to two hours per match, in complete silence, he said. Sometimes they sit in silence for close to six hours.
But senior varsity team member Nate Kolo is used to playing in silence.
After playing in tournaments since fifth or sixth grade, he said the silence is relaxing.
“It helps me keep more focused,” he said, adding he is looking forward to the national tournament.
Senior Mac Tan has spent all four years in high school on the varsity chess team. He said the tournaments are a great way to interact with other chess players.
“You get to meet a lot of people and you know you have at least one interest in common with them,” he said, adding the national tournament is going to be just like the state tournament except the difference in size. “It’s going to be like states except bigger.”
According to The United States Chess Federation, Tan is ranked 149th in the state with a 2043 board rate, while Kolo is ranked 174th in the state with a board rate of 2016.
Although chess seems like more of an individual sport, Hessler said if one player loses their match, it is up to the rest of the team to push forward and win their own matches.
“They support each other very well,” he said.
During practice, team members face each other and critique their opponent’s strategy, Hessler said.
For varsity player Joyce Li, her teammates and Hessler helped her manage time. She has played in tournaments for the past three years. Since then her time control has improved, but it still needs work, she said.
“Originally, I struggled with time control because I like to think more than moving. But Mr. Hessler and everyone else have given me plenty of encouragement and constant reminders that I need to move faster,” she said.
As for the upcoming national competition, the team will play three days of games and three to four matches per day at approximately two hours per match, Hessler said.
Senior Charlie Shvartsman said he is looking forward to playing in nationals. Since he started playing, Shvartsman said his chess skills gradually improved, but he is still not better at chess than his older brother.
“I am following in his footsteps. He is better than me at chess, but the school has never been able to win the states,” he said.
He said his brother may be better than him in chess, but the varsity chess team was able to make it to the national championship.
“We have come very close but we have never managed to come out on top,” he said.
Winning the national tournament is looking bright for the chess team, Shvartsman said.
