The Trinity Chess Team tried blindfold chess for the first time on the happy bus trip returning from the Regionals in San Angelo. Blindfold chess is where neither player can see the board and just announces the moves. First person to make an illegal move loses.

 

It killed time and got kids calmed down from the excitement of dominating the Texas Chess Association West Texas Regionals which brings together all the best scholastic chess players from all over West Texas.

 

There were six awards that could be won, and Trinity students won four of them.

 

There was an Open Section and a Junior Section.  The Open Section was for students generally seventh grade and higher with most students in high school. The Junior Section was mostly kids in sixth grade or lower, but there were a few kids up to tenth grade in that one too.

 

In the Junior Section, Trinity fourth grader Pearson Doyle won all six of his games to finish undefeated earning him a clear first place. "The stress level was a six out of 10," Pearson said, "and it built up every round."  Pearson said he just learned to play chess this year at Trinity. He said he knew he could be pretty good when the chess season began and he started playing other schools.  He said at the Regionals he played mostly Sicilians and King's Indians. "I didn't want to be too aggressive," he said. "I like to react to what they do." He said his best move of the tournament was when he sacrificed a bishop to pin his opponent's king to his queen. His most interesting game was playing a very aggressive opponent who he needed to counterpunch. "I never saw someone chase my queen around as much as this guy did," he said. With one game to go, and knowing a win gave him the championship, Pearson took a walk by himself to clear his head and get the stress under control. The final game turned out to be a letdown though as Pearson busted his opponent right out of the opening and won quickly. 

 

A half point behind Pearson with five wins, no losses, and one draw was Trinity fourth grader Gus Padgett who finished in second place. "They were a lot older than we were, and they were a lot harder " Gus said. "I didn't expect to win something." Though he played players from different towns, Gus said all the games were "pretty standard openings." Gus said he never got behind in any of his six games with the one draw coming down to him having a knight but that isn't a big enough advantage to win. He said the stress level wasn't too bad until the last round where he was matched up against the top board of the Midland Homeschool team, a player he knows is very strong. "I beat him with a discovered check," Gus said. "It won me his queen for free."

 

Completing the sweep for Trinity was sixth grader Keyan Chaudhri who had five wins and one loss, good enough for third place. Keyan said he learned how to play in Pennsylvania when he was in fourth grade, He said he tried an opening with a trap in it known as 'The Carter', "but it never worked. No one fell for it." He said this chess season was "pretty fun," and his stress came when he played the top board from Carver. That win earned him third place, and he won it with a battery checkmate.

 

Other star players for Trinity were fourth grader Rowan Baker and third grader Simon Posada, each finishing with four wins and no losses. "I felt kind of nervous." said Rowan. "I was surprised at how many older players I had to play." Rowan showed great improvement during the season, and won all three of his matches against Carver which was Trinity's toughest match of the season. "The more I play, the more I learn, and I watch the better players," Rowan summed. He said he wants to work on middle game positions for next year. "I get good positions, but don't know what to do with them,:" he said.

 

Third grader Simon Posada also finished with four wins and two draws. "Yes it bugged me being a third grader," he said. "I played a high school kid and I won." Simon said his dad taught him to play, and yes, "I can definitely beat dad." He said his best move was a checkmate with a queen and knight. Simon said he wants to "find better combinations in the middle games."

 

The Open Section was where the top high school players in West Texas played. 

 

Trinity's Tobias Slatken can tell all about it because he played all of them. Each round, there was one game going when all the rest were finished and it was Tobias with a slight advantage grinding out a long win against a very strong opponent.  In the end Tobias finished with five wins and one loss, good enough for a three way tie for second place. Each round a computer decides who plays who. Chess players call it "The Pairing Gods," and the pairing gods were not happy with Tobias that afternoon. When the tournament results were posted, we could see just how bad it was. Tobias only loss was to the player who finished first. He was second and he also had to play the players who finished third, fourth and fifth. Of the two players who tied him with five points, each of them only played one game against a person who finished in the top seven. In each case that one player was Tobias and he beat both of them. "It was fun," Tobias said, adding "I wish I had more time between games." Tobias said he played Queen's Gambit Declined openings, but thinks he should have played the Dutch Defense instead. "I was most proud of my endgame play," he said. I kept getting up a pawn and having to grind out the endgames." Tobias said his highest stress was the last round game against San Angelo's top player Zander Kuhn. "I knew I was playing for something against Zander," Tobias said. "I won a piece in a combination." Tobias has been playing for Trinity since his first Regional in third grade and was Board One for the high school team this year. "It's something to stimulate the brain. I'm still having fun and growing myself."

 

For Trinity's other top high school player, Gavin Dorfner it was a different story. He lost his first two games before winning the remaining four and playing those last games in dynamic, aggressive style.

 

While the Open Section was made up of the top high school students, there was another group which stuck out. Trinity was the only school where some Lower School kids decided to play with the big boys.  "One guy had a beard," said Trinity fourth grader Evan Walker who had three wins and three losses in the Open Section. "Everyone was older," Evan said. "I expected hard, but I didn't expect seniors." Still he said he was glad he went into the Open Section "I learned a lot," he said. Fourth grader Ollie Mathewson said he was also glad he went to the Open Section. He finished with two wins, three losses and a draw. "It was much more challenging, " he said. His favorite move was a pawn sacrifice to open up his opponent's king position. "It was a sacrifice that was worth it," he said. Fourth grader Barrett Johnson said he was also glad he played in the Open Section. "I learned a lot. These guys were a lot harder. They could beat Ollie." Barrett said his best move was a pawn push that discovered an attack on his opponent's queen. Barrett said chess has "helped me think more. It helped me with math too." Barrett finished with two wins, three losses and a draw.

 

Fifth grader Katie Li held down Board One for the undefeated Charger lower school team this year. She also played in the Open Section and finished with three wins, two losses and a draw.

 

The Regionals ends our chess season. Thanks to the students who did so well dominating the Regionals and the whole season. Also a thank you to the parents who came to the Regionals and encouraged our players and helped the coach while he was stuck judging. Also a thank you to our bus driver, Jesus Ponce who got us safely to San Angelo and back.