1,400 students expected at regional chess tournament
SAN BENITO — With a group of players coming off a national championship, San Benito High School’s chess team boasts powerhouse players as the school district hosts one of Texas’ biggest chess tournaments this weekend, organizers said Friday.
The 2012 Region 8 Chess Championship to be held today and Sunday at Veterans Memorial Academy pits the hometown teams against some of the state’s best players in the region known as a chess powerhouse, they said.
About 100 teams from across the Valley will bring about 1,400 students to the tournament for the sport that has boomed in popularity in the region, said Victor Bailey, a chess coach who organized the tournament.
“This is the biggest regional class tournament in the state of Texas,” said Jack Garcia, the city’s past mayor who serves as director of the district’s After-School Program, which helps fund the local chess program. “It’s a very challenging tournament. You’re playing against some of the best players in the state. There’s a lot of pride and bragging rights in this tournament.”
It’s the first time in seven years that the school district has hosted the tournament, which drew about 1,100 students in 2005, Garcia said.
In the last five years, the district’s teams have honed their talents, competing in national tournaments before Veterans Memorial Academy’s team won the United States Chess Federation’s ninth-grade national championship tournament in Orlando, Fla., in December 2010, said Ed Guetzow, a chess coach at Ed Downs Elementary School. He serves as director of the Texas Chess Association’s Region 8.
“We’ve improved dramatically,” Guetzow said. “Brownsville’s always been the team to beat. Now we’re on par with them.”
The championship’s prestige will help drive the hometown teams in the tournament where three teams will go on to national competitions, Guetzow said.
“It’s a totally different perspective when you’re at the top of the hill looking down,” Guetzow said. “When you play chess, a lot is self-confidence. You know you can achieve (a championship) again.”
This year, the group of players who won the ninth-grade championship is boosting the high school team’s winning spirit, Guetzow said.
“The high school has got some seasoned veterans,” he said. “I see the high school team as one of the teams to beat. I think they’re in the driver’s seat.”
Chess has rapidly spread in popularity across the Valley, Bailey said.
“This is a (powerhouse) for chess activity,” Bailey said. “Our players can hold their own everywhere and we’ve proven it. Over the years we’ve been coming home with national titles. The kids realize they can compete intellectually.”
In 1991, Brownsville’s Russell Elementary School launched the area’s first chess program, Bailey said.
“Chess is definitely growing,” Bailey said. “Chess is basically at every school. It’s looked upon as an intellectual sport. It opens a venue for kids who are looking to be competitive but are not necessarily athletically inclined.”
Today, players in Brownsville, San Benito and other Valley districts rank among the top in the state, Guetzow said.
“The Valley has been the strongest and the biggest area as far as players in the state,” Guetzow said.
In San Benito, coaches who have stuck with the district’s chess program have molded players into champions, Garcia said.
“There’s been good stability as far as coaches who have been doing this for so many years,” Garcia said. “They have been very instrumental in building this (powerhouse) and this foundation.”
fernandodv@valleystar.com
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