The chess team at Christ the King Regional School, Haddonfield, recently competed in the virtual Worldwide 12U Team Battle, sponsored by Worldwide Junior Chess in Croatia. The students finished fifth out of 12 teams, with two players, Liam Jesunas and Matthew Picerno, being among the top scorers out of 81 participants.
Taking part in competitions like the Worldwide 12U Team Battle is fairly new for this team, as for the last seven years, the group was an extracurricular club made of students competing against each other.
First-year coach William Jesunas did find a history of chess tournament competition for the school, but not to an international extent. In the early 2000s, students would compete in the New Jersey Scholastic Championship in Piscataway. There’s even a 2003 trophy on display at the school from those chess students.
Jesunas decided to broaden the current competition-based opportunities, allowing students from younger grades to participate in larger tournaments and against other local schools, including the Worldwide 12U Team Battle, which took place last month.
“I think any opportunity where children get to compete against the best competition is great,” Jesunas said. “These teams have a long history of play in Europe. The team we tied for fifth place, aside from numerous junior championships … boasts having over 10 grandmasters, including one of the world’s best chess players.”
The school’s team, dubbed the Knights of the Square Table, now has more 30 students from grades kindergarten through eighth. Students meet once a week after school to play and learn more about the game. They are grouped into two chess clubs: Kindergarten-fourth grade, and fifth to eighth grade.
“All the children who participate really enjoy it and love learning about the game and improving their skills,” said Anne Hartman, school principal. “It gives them a special niche to belong to in the school community, and our entire school is proud of their accomplishments.”
Earlier this year, the team competed in the Mid-Atlantic Scholastic Tournament and won, which led Jesunas to explore the youth chess team community on the global scale.
Now, Hartman and Jesunas have set their sights on creating a diocesan chess competition; the first tournament was scheduled to take place May 16 at the school.
“Seeing the pride and joy on my own students’ faces when they engage their keen minds … made me want to open that experience to other children who play chess,” Hartman said. “It is all about wanting the children to develop a love of the game and learn better strategies playing against others who also enjoy mental jousting.” She also is hopeful that they will “make new friends whom they can continue to play chess with in the future.”
Michael Bress is communications and marketing manager for the Diocese of Camden’s Office of Catholic Education.
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