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It was the first chess tournament for both Liam Smith, 8, of California and Miles Garner, 8, of Town Creek.
The two third-graders were paired Saturday morning as opponents during the first of five, 30-minute rounds during the Maryland Educational Chess Association’s Scholastic Tournament held in the Great Mills High School cafeteria. Altogether, there were 72 participants, ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade.
As play began, Liam studied the board, with his head propped up by one hand. Miles kicked his feet back and forth under the table, as parents of both boys watched with other parents behind a railing above the game-playing area.
“I didn’t even know he could play,” said Miles’ mother, Rose Marie Garner of Town Creek.
She said her son heard about the tournament at Town Creek Elementary School, where he has been learning to play chess during a lunchtime club. Miles asked to participate in the Saturday tournament.
Liam’s parents, Brent Smith and Anne Marie Dailey of California, knew that their son was involved with an after-school chess club at the Chesapeake Public Charter School.
“Pretty competitive, yeah,” Brent said of his son, adding that they’d had a talk about how to deal with winning or losing before they got to the tournament.
“How is he doing?” Dailey asked her husband, as she tried to catch a glimpse of Liam through the line of parents along the railing.
“I’ve seen him hit himself in the head a couple of times,” Brent said.
As the 30 minutes of that first round ticked away, players at the other tables gradually finished their game, reset the chess pieces for the next player and then got up to report the result to a tournament volunteer.
At the end, only Liam and Miles were left. Their game had become a war of attrition, leaving each with just a few players on the board. Finally, time was called, and Liam was declared the winner, because the point total of the pieces he had taken were greater than Miles’ point total.
Miles stuck out his hand, and the boys shook.
Despite his win, Liam wasn’t smiling. He kept his game face on as he waited for the second round pairing. “Oh, he’s happy,” his mom said as she watched.
It’s all part of chess, according to Gary Stewart, executive director of the Maryland Educational Chess Association, headquartered in Lexington Park. The nonprofit sponsored two tournaments last year, when the organization was called Southern Maryland Chess Association. The group changed its name to reflect its broader goals.
Chess offers competition, the opportunity to analyze options, the chance to learn new moves, Stewart said. And there’s also the chance to learn to lose with grace.
“Chess takes guts to play,” Stewart told the players and their families during a talk before the competition began. “Why? Because it’s hard to put yourself out there in a situation where you might lose … It’s about testing your character … It’s how you handle defeat.
“Chess is about growth.”
Stewart said he works as a substitute teacher in the public schools, and he thinks chess is something that young people need. The Maryland Educational Chess Association has a stated goal of incorporating chess into every school in the state.
“We feel that it’s important, especially for students, because chess can do so many things for them help with academics, socialization, analytical skills, confidence. It teaches them patience. It also teaches them manners,” Stewart said.
Beach Elementary School in Chesapeake Beach sent a large contingent to Saturday’s tournament. Twenty-six players were from the school, all wearing the navy blue Beach Bishops T-shirts, along with three middle school students who used to attend Beach and a student from Leonardtown Elementary who was also a former Beach student, said Mike Shisler, the school’s principal.
The school’s strong chess program began more than 10 years ago, he said, when the school had a state grant for an after-school program that included a chess club. “We try to get as many kids to participate in our program as possible,” Shisler said. “I’m not looking for grand masters, I’m looking for players who learn how to think.”
Shisler said the chess players at his school try to participate in at least one tournament a month.
Fresh from his win that first round, Liam said he enjoyed chess. “It’s fun. It’s kind of medieval, which is a good thing. It’s about learning stuff.”
Liam ended up with a 1-4 record. Two of those losses came through something called “scholars mate,” a term for a four-move checkmate that Liam had never heard of until Saturday. “But Liam says he's going to be studying up on that now,” his mother said Monday morning.
Miles went on to win two more rounds, lose another and end the fifth in a draw. “At first he was a little discouraged but once he won a match he felt better,” his mother said.
The Maryland Educational Chess Association plans to make the chess scholastic tournament an annual event.
scraton@somdnews.com
Tournament winners
Kindergarten to second grade division:
1st Seth Hunter, Beach Elementary
2nd Dylan Muoio, Beach Elementary
3rd Alita Ortiz, Little Seedlings
4th Gayle Henderson, Beach Elementary
Third grade to fifth grade division:
1st Joel Galarza, Beach Elementary
2nd Michala Kennedy, Beach Elementary
3rd Vinay Fundith, home school
4th Saar Shah, Lexington Park Elementary
Sixth grade to 12th grade division:
1st Justin Byun, Windy Hill Middle
2nd Garrett Caldwell, Windy Hill Middle
3rd Trevor Butcher, Leonardtown High
4th Scott Stanley, Northern High
For more information on the Maryland Educational Chess Association and its programs, call 240-718-4657 or go to www.mecachess.org.