ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 27, 1997 TAG: 9701270075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE: children, sitting motionless for hours at a time. But chess seems to bring out some amazing things in some very young people.
Mark DiProsperis won the fourth-place trophy, but there was no joy on his face. He seemed stunned.
Chances are you've never heard of Mark, one of Roanoke's top young chess players. But he's a star in the student chess world, where players have reputations almost like athletes.
Since he began playing chess as a second-grader at Lincoln Terrace Elementary School, he has won many tournaments in Roanoke and Southwest Virginia,
Mark, now an eighth-grader at James Madison Middle School, was Roanoke Valley champion last year in the open section that includes high school students.
The 14-year-old consistently has placed high in state and national competition in recent years. He has played in national tournaments in Charlotte, Detroit, Knoxville, New York and Orlando.
Mark is a hero for young chess players in Roanoke; they refer to him by his first name.
But in an upset, he lost his first-round match in the Roanoke City Individual Championships this month and struggled to finish fourth.
Justin Marlles, a rising young player from Patrick Henry High, won the championship in the open section. It was his first breakthrough in a major tournament.
Just last month, Justin, 14, finished 10th in a regional tournament in which Mark placed second. But Justin has been improving steadily.
"On a bad day for a player, anything can happen," said Mickey Owens, chess coordinator for city schools.
When the students are at the chessboard, they're all business and fierce competitors. In tournaments, they play up to eight hours a day in almost total silence. They hunch over the board as they plan their next move, oblivious to what's going on around them.
At the city championship, Mark wore a golfer's cap. He rested his elbow on the table, chin in hand, as he pondered his strategy, sometimes remaining motionless for two or three minutes.
Then he would pounce like a cat, move his piece, hit the timer and make a notation of his move. Then he would settle back and wait for his opponent to move.
The student chess players said they don't tire during the long matches, although some feel exhausted afterward.
"Time passes quickly in tournaments," said Justin, who has been playing chess since he was in first grade at Raleigh Court Elementary. "You don't think of the time, and it's fun."
When the matches and tournaments are over, the students remain friends despite the competition.
"It's exciting to win, but you have to be humble," Justin said after winning the city championship.
"We don't hold grudges," he said. "They're all my friends, and it's great to be with them at tournaments. Chess is as much social as it is competition."
More than 100 students compete in some of the daylong city tournaments, which attract children of all ages - from kindergartners to high school seniors.
Up to 30 of Roanoke's top players have traveled to state and national student tournaments in recent years. They have seen such well-known personalities as television reporter Jane Pauley and actor Kurt Russell, whose children play chess. The national tournaments, which last three or four days, attract 1,200 to 1,400 students.
Chess has flourished in Roanoke since the school program was revamped 21/2 years ago.
"Chess is starting to roll in the city," Owens said. "The school administration is very supportive of it, and they consider chess to be part of the instructional program."
Nearly 750 students have joined school chess clubs, enrolled in chess classes or competed in tournaments this year.
A few school divisions in the region have chess programs that are funded mainly with private funds and run by parents and volunteers. But the school divisions don't finance clubs, provide instruction or run extensive programs the way Roanoke does.
Roanoke began chess on a limited basis in the mid-80s, but the program almost folded before Owens took it over.
City schools spend nearly $70,000 a year on the game: for the coordinator, quadrant instructors, school sponsors, classes, tournaments and other costs.
An anonymous benefactor contributes an additional $15,000 a year, used mainly to help meet the cost of sending players to tournaments.
The city has evening chess classes that are free for students. Alan Brownstein, a nationally rated chess expert who has been competing and teaching for more than 20 years, is the instructor.
Classes are offered for players at all skill levels. The first half of the class covers instruction, chess history and player biographies. The second half consists of playing time.
Most student tournaments include competition in three categories: primary (kindergarten-third grade), elementary (up to the seventh grade) and open scholastic, which includes middle and high school students.
Roanoke holds four tournaments a year at Patrick Henry High. The next one will be the Roanoke President's Month Tournament on Feb.15. Students from other school divisions can enter all of the tournaments except the city championships.
Roanoke students also compete in the Giles Scholastic Chess Tournament in Pearisburg each fall. Mark won the Giles tournament last November.
Chess is more popular with boys than girls, but many girls play. Twelve of 55 players in the recent city championships were girls.
Catie Holt, an eighth-grader at James Madison Middle, finished third in the open competition, beating nearly a dozen boys and her older sister, Allison, a freshman at Patrick Henry.
"It's hard to say why I like chess so much," Catie said. "I've been playing so long that it's just a part of me. I like the challenge."
Catie, 13, was matched against Allison in the final round. "I wanted to beat her, but I felt a little bad afterward because she played good.''
Many players said the game has helped them with their schoolwork.
``Chess doesn't make you smarter, but it teaches you how to concentrate," Catie said.
"It trains your mind to think ahead," said Mark, an honor roll student who wants to become an accountant or actuary. "I'm taking Algebra II, and it has helped me because it is tied to mathematics."
Tina Weiner, coordinator of mathematics for city schools, said chess helps teach students to solve problems.
"You have to think ahead to what's going to be the next move," said Weiner, who serves as the chess liaison between Owens and school administrators. "The same principle applies in solving mathematical problems."
Parents also are fans of the chess program. "Studies have shown that chess helps children improve memory, learn analytical skills and deal better with hypothetical situations," said Robin Marlles, mother of Justin.
Her other two sons, Phillip and David, also compete in tournaments.
Kim Renick, the mother of three chess players, said the game has helped her children gain confidence. It also has helped calm two children who have attention deficit disorder, she said.
She said that one of her daughters, who is in the third grade, has difficulty sitting still and concentrating on her schoolwork. "But when she's playing chess, she's totally focused and quiet.''
George Hunter, a teacher and sponsor of Jackson Middle School's chess club, said one of the biggest benefits of the chess program is that it can provide quick rewards for students.
"So much of what children are taught is directed toward the future," he said. "They're told that they should learn something because they'll need to know it some day or it will help them later."
But they don't have to wait to see results in chess, Hunter said.
``If you study and learn chess, you can have immediate success.''
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. 1. Adam Tanner (clockwise fromby CNBbottom left), Alex Corcoran, Antonio Cunningham and Phillip Marlles
compete in Saturday's chess tournament at Patrick Henry High School.
2. Mark DiProsperis, 14, an ace chess player, plans his next move in
a match he won Saturday. color.