Dozens of young chess players worked in silence Sunday morning, plotting the capture of their opponents’ king.
“You can’t go backward,” one player whispered, glancing over at the trophies being pulled out of the box.
The players were participating in the third-annual Tai Lam Chess Tournament, held at the Silver Spring Civic Building and named for a Montgomery Blair freshman who was shot and killed on a county bus in November 2008. The tournament was founded to commemorate Lam by getting more children and teens interested in his favorite sport.
“This game is completely engrossing and captivating,” said state Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park. “We want everybody to fall in love with it at least a little bit.”
Raskin said he hopes to promote chess within schools because it encourages strategic planning and creative thinking. All The Right Moves, an organization Raskin helped found, provides after-school chess clubs and playing opportunities for children with a lofty goal in mind.
“We’re not at the same level of youth popularity as soccer yet, but we’re on our way,” he said. “Our goal is to make chess the same kind of pervasive mental workout in Silver Spring and Takoma Park as soccer is a physical workout.”
For the roughly 40 participants at Sunday’s tournament, chess is a top priority.
Sam Lidz, 8, of Silver Spring, said he started playing chess when he was just 4 years old and sat down to a chess board with his grandfather. He won four out of five games he played Sunday, which was his first tournament.
“The hardest part of playing is processing what someone might do if you do something, and sometimes, if you make a mistake, it can be hard to make up for it,” he explained.
Sam’s parents have had to work hard to catch up to their son’s skill level, but they’re still not there, said Tonia Bleam, his mother.
“He’s the one who drives it,” she said. “My husband and I didn’t even know how to play, so we had to learn it all, and he still knows a lot more than us.”
Kathryn Martinez, 7, of Silver Spring, said she learned to play from her 9-year-old brother. For Kathryn, it’s a simpler joy that keeps her playing: “I love that you can move the king wherever you want,” she said.
Raskin won the General Assembly chess tournament earlier this year, and his son Tommy was a friend of Tai Lam’s. Speaking to the tournament’s participants, Raskin thanked the group for playing on Lam’s behalf.
“He believed in chess,” he said. “He believed in having friends of all ages and from all communities, so we’re just so proud to see all of you out here.”
The elementary school winners of the tournament were, in order: Jordan Best, Elliot Kienzle and Skylar Hsu. The best elementary teams were Pine Crest and Sligo Creek elementary schools. Middle and high school winners were, in order: Ronald Best, Daniel Soriano and Sam Keating. The best older-division school teams were from Einstein High School and Best Home School.
jderbedrosian@gazette.net
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