Seng 1 Deon Seng Prof. Presnell Engl.

1103 September 24, 2012 Making Moves in the Game of Chess

Chess is primarily stereotyped as a game for nerds. It has been said that players who play the game have a high IQ or higher level of thinking in order to execute correctly. This is not entirely true. I have been a part of Chess since I was in the tenth grade of high school, and I have personally experienced this wonderful game. I was one of those individuals that thought, Chess is boring Chess is too complicated for me to play Chess takes too long, and Im not great at thinking so much. Needless to say, once I began playing it and started developing my skill, chess became a part of my life, and I viewed myself as a decent chess player.

Yes! I think thats check mate! I shouted excitedly while playing my first chess game.

It was an experience that was brief yet sensational at the same time, and that was the start of my development. I gained interest in chess during my tenth grade year in high school, and I remember exactly how I became hooked. My friend, Cau, was becoming a leader on the Chess Club, and he begged for to come join because they were in need of new players to recruit. His encouragement finally got to me, so I decided to

Seng 2 check it out. I did not know what to expect because I still had doubts that playing chess could be fun, but as soon as I walked into room F10 with him, the feeling of the atmosphere shifted into a calming scene. I saw numerous chessboards set up in a few rows of desks and Chess Club written neatly on the chalkboard. I also saw an older gentleman in a desk with a student across from him while playing a match. He had a short grey beard, small oval glasses, and his hand positioned on his chin as if he was in the middle of a deep thought. He was Mr. Singleton. I introduced myself and he slowly said me, So. Tell me what you know about chess. I was initially lost because I was not expecting him to say that, but I quickly replied, Nothing. His response to my answer will be something that I will always remember because they were the most influential words that pushed me to continue playing.

Good. We all start out at that point.

When he said that, a sense of confidence just rose in me, and I suddenly realized that I could play the game of chess and I knew that I would eventually get better at it. Because I was not able to participate continuously in the Chess club during the tenth grade due to other priorities, I would say that my senior year was definitely the turning point in my life in which I viewed the game of chess in a different perspective. It

Seng 3 was my first year officially on the Chess Team for West Charlotte High School, but I am glad that I was able to spend it with four of my closest friends as teammates: Cau, Santana, Hakiym, Gabon, and one of the best chess coaches in Charlotte, North Carolina: Spencer Singleton. These five individuals introduced me to the game of chess, and with all of their teaching, coaching, and increasing confidence in me, I was able to join the team and compete in a couple of tournaments. During the time I spent with the Chess Team, I was able to accomplish many of my personal goals that I set when I first began playing. I was able to play against Mr. Singleton as every player on the Chess Team has to play the coach multiple times to see what they can improve in their skill. I was proud that I was able to play a great match. He won, but he told me I had potential by the effort I put in the game. My relationship with Mr. Singleton grew as my skills did within chess. He became known as Singleton, and that was a sign that a special bond developed between him and me because every chess team member referred to him as Singleton. He became familiar with my playing skills, and the more we worked together the more improvement I gained as he was able to view my mistakes or strategies and guide me toward the better moves. In addition, the bond between my teammates and me grew as well as I worked with them individually to enhance my fundamentals because the first thing I learned in chess was to always refer to the fundamentals. That truly affected my performance during a match and the developing mindset that we all shared on the team. As I started to gain familiarity with techniques and openings (beginning moves), I gradually changed into a rising member of the Chess team, so I practiced more within my junior and senior year. My confidence increased tremendously at a rapid rate,

Seng 4 and I felt a sense of happiness while playing this game. It was something that I would have never imagined, and some significant events contributed to this new burst of joy. For instance, I participated in my first official Chess tournament during the winter of my senior year. Mr. Singleton brought up the tournament during one of our practices, but I did not even think that I was ready to officially play yet due to the frequent lessons that I continued to learn. However, Mr. Singleton and the team encouraged me to test my skills by joining them on the first weekend of December in the CMS K-12 Scholarship Tournament hosted at my high school. I encountered a great experience by attending that tournament. I learned the skill of notating my moves which is required during a chess match as a player can record his or her moves on paper and view his or her game afterwards to learn from any mistaken moves or overlooked opportunities. I also obtained my first official win during this tournament, which came on the second day on the tournament after I lost two games on the previous day. It was an exciting moment for me, and I became enthusiastic about playing in tournaments. Although I finished the tournament with one win and three losses, that one win allowed my rank to rise. This allowed me to participate in other Chess team tournaments such as the Chess States Tournament, which is a tournament for players/ teams throughout the state of North Carolina to compete against each other. It was hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Blake Hotel uptown. I did not perform well during this tournament and ended up losing all of my matches, but I did not lose confidence in myself. I was disappointed in the level in which I displayed; so I pushed myself further to improve how I played the game by working longer with my coach and teammates afterschool. It was something that motivated me to strive to produce better results in the next opportunity I had, which

Seng 5 turned out to be the most inspirational experience in my entire life. The West Charlotte High School Chess team was able to go to the United States National Chess Tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was my first ever US Chess Nationals, and I was as nervous as I had ever been.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen of all ages. Welcome to Minneapolis, Minnesota and welcome to the United States K-12 Chess Nationals Tournament, said the director of the US K-12 Chess Federation as he began his greeting. His short speech ended with We will begin shortly. The feeling of the environment in the room was breathtaking as it was clustered with chess players from across the United States of different ages and levels all in one room ready to compete. I could sense the anxiousness, the excitement, the nervousness, and most of all the confidence of every one of all the players that surrounded me. I was extremely lucky to be in that hotel playing against individuals that were at a level in which I had never experienced before. Having that said, no type of preparation seemed to get me mentally and emotionally ready for the Nationals. It was indeed the largest tournament of all, and we were able to travel to Minnesota, which was the first time for all of us. It just seemed surreal to be sitting in front of a board with the clock placed to my right set at one hour and thirty minutes for each person and being surrounded by some of the best players around. However, I was concerned. Initially, I could not gather myself together and remain focused. I dont know you guys. I feel so nervousthis may be too big for me, I said with a sigh.

Seng 6 My teammates and coach were around me at a table, as we were getting ready for the first round.

What do you mean Deon? You got this man. I believe in you, and we can do well as a team, replied Mr. Singleton as he could sense my low confidence and overwhelming doubts. Yeah man we all got this dont stress too much just remember what we all learned. Take your time and keep your head in the game, said Santana as Hakiym and Cau nodded in agreement. I knew to take any advice from any of my fellow team members and use it as motivation since I was the least experienced out of the whole team, and they had been to the Nationals before while placing high in the rankings.

Whatever happens in the first round will be something we cant change, but if we keep our minds right, we can absolutely improve from our mistakes or continue with what is working for us! Mr. Singleton exclaimed to us with reassurance and pride in his voice.

That small pep talk with my team definitely made me ease my mind and calm down. I looked around and stood up out of my chair before quickly placing my hand facedown in the space in between all of us.

Okay everyone. We can do this! I shouted firmly with high confidence.

Seng 7

Everyone joined in with a smile and we began walking to the seats in which we were placed for our specific matches. I was in the ratings of 700s, which is not that good considering we were playing in the Under 1200 ratings (1200 being the highest rating that a player can have in order to play in that section), but it was due to my lack of experience and tournament games played. I grabbed my Chess notation book and pencil and sat down at my seat number while quickly looking across the chessboard. I could see that I was playing someone with a rating in the 1,100s. At that moment, I became strictly focused because I realized that this was going to be a tough match, but certainly not one that I could not handle. The director of the tournament walked up to the podium once more and began speaking again. He congratulated and thanked all of the chess players for making it to the event. My mind toned out his voice as I stared at the pieces sitting in front of me. I began strategizing and aiming for my goal of putting up a difficult game for my opponent. The last few sentences I heard from the speech were, Good luck to each and every one of you. No noises, distractions, coaches, or parents are now allowed in the room until the entire round has ended. Round one of the US Nationals has begun. I closed my eyes for a second with the room full of silence, took a deep breath and said Good luck to my opponent as we shook hands. Then, the silence was suddenly broken with the sound of clicking from the hundreds of clocks in the room as the matches were starting. The sense of reality of my first match in the US Chess Nationals finally kicked in as I pushed my pond to E4 and tapped on the clock. I did not reach my expectations that I had for the Nationals, but I was satisfied

Seng 8 with our team effort and the enjoyment that we had while being in Minnesota. I lost all of the three rounds in which I had on the first day of the tournament, and I ended up with only two draws out of seven games total. Our whole team did not perform at the level in which we were capable of, but we did not let that bring us down. We had an excellent journey on our way to the Nationals, and even though we did not receive a trophy, besides the traditional participation medals that every player receives, we were still proud of ourselves. It was a valuable experience for all of us as it was our last time playing chess as a team since we were graduating soon (except for Gabon who was a junior). We cherished that moment spent together during that trip, and I personally can state that the game of chess changed how I perceived life. Ultimately, that one tournament directed my mind to another dimension of life as I finally realized the reason we all play the game. The meaning of chess is not to just strategize and play the game on a board. The meaning is to make the world your personal board and to utilize the skills and elements incorporated in the game as the way you live. Its foundation is a guide for the life that I live in. Such concepts such as Developing pieces (or moving important pieces such as the Knight and Bishop into play) could be implied as the way that you develop friendships or bonds that overall strengthen your personality (such as how developing pieces in chess strengthens your position on the board). Another concept called Controlling the center can be the way in which you assert yourself and make decisions because controlling the center in a chess game allows the player to have more opportunities and power over his or her game. Hence, this realization following the Nationals really contained significance. I have gained confidence in myself due to the experience, and the patience that it takes to play the game

Seng 9 allowed me to lucidly see that plans will overcome adversity and reach its zenith as the building blocks lead to a better path of success whether it is intentionally planned or not.