Novato elementary students win California chess honors
For years, Hamilton School students found a home at lunch or after school playing chess with a coach or a friend. Now, some players have a state title to show for it.
The Novato school's chess team took first place in the K-8 “rookie” section in its first appearance at the 2022 CalChess championship. The event was held April 10 in Santa Clara.
The team of 16 players in two sections also tied for second place in clubs, with top-20 finishes from students Aaron Chen, Jesus Mendieta, Marcela Sherlyn Flores and Larry Calle Labou. All players competed in five games.
The team is coached by Abel Talamantez, former chess director at Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco. The program is sponsored by Rise Scholars, the school's volunteer mentorship program.
Michele Huff, board president of Rise Scholars, said chess teaches children practice and preparation, learning from mistakes and ”winning and losing with grace, while emphasizing sportsmanship and fair play.”
The program benefits students who come from “a majority lowincome community” with few afterschool opportunities “that most kids in Marin would casually have,” said Rise board member Jay Ferguson.
“We had to step in and do something with these kids,” Ferguson said. “Chess seemed to be the very first thing we could see doing.”
The program started for fifthgraders and is open to students in second through eighth grade.
”It was pretty much overwhelming demand right away,” Ferguson said.
Although the program struggled online during the pandemic, leaders pushed to keep their last coach. They eventually hired Talamantez, who said he focuses on skill building, critical thinking and “persevering through adversity.”
“What's really gratifying is seeing them apply those skills and being better people for it,” he said. ”From the first day, we say,
get ready to lose often. You can't get better at chess unless you lose and learn from it.”
The mentor program is also growing again, with about 80 adult mentors for about 80 regular students, compared to 130 mentors before the pandemic.
These days, the chess classroom is “packed to the rafters” at lunch, Ferguson said. After school, things get more intense.
This week, Sofia Diaz, a seventh-grade student, and her sister Valentina, a fifthgrader, practiced at a table against Shalimar Arevalo, a third-grader.
“No puedes, you can't
do it,” Valentina Diaz cautioned her sister.
“La hicimos,” Sofia Diaz replied. “That's a checkmate.”
At the next table, fourthgrader Alejandra Reyes said she prefers playing chess on a computer and often plays online with classmates.
“It can show me how to move the pieces,” she said.
Fourth-grader Aria Amerson said she's been playing chess for about four years.
“What makes it fun are my friends and the people in the club,” she said.
Aria, who has some of the highest scores on the classroom board, said chess is “all about strategy.”
Fifth-grader Jesus Mendieta is one of the program's highest ranking players.
“I got to that point by
practicing a lot and playing a lot of games,” he said.
Jesus said he would advise novice players to “practice puzzles a lot, and make sure you can see the moves and what the opponent could do if you make that move — and decide if it's a good move.”
About half of the program's students speak Spanish as their first language. Talamantez said he is glad to see students speaking both English and Spanish as they play.
“They feel like they're in a safe space,” he said. “They speak their language and it makes them feel comfortable, and it helps them learn it on a different level when they can communicate it in their native language.”
Ferguson said he is also proud that the program has about an equal number of boys and girls.
“In most programs, it's pretty much 10-to-1 boys to girls,” he said.
The school aims to continue competing, helping students polish their skills and win recognition.
Through tools such as Chesskid, players have held matches with students from other countries. Some students won a match Tuesday against the Capablanca Chess Club from Chihuahua, Mexico.
“We want to thank the entire community for all their support, especially the parents, who support their children through this exciting experience,” said Stefanie Parnell, the school principal.