CHESS ACADEMY
Chess is often thought of as a game for the sophisticated and mature, but one school in Hightstown, New Jersey is proving that it has no bounds when it comes to age.
SciCore Academy teaches students as young as five years old how to play, and for some, like seven year old Constantine Oskiper, it's not a matter of learning the game, it's a matter of mastering it.
Oskiper along with his triplet brothers, Andreas and Nicholas, are the first triplets to win the 1st Grade Competition at the National Scholastic Team Championship, held in Florida, in December 2010. However, Constantine, known to some as Costas, consistently scores the highest. He was first introduced to the game by his mother at three years old.
Miguel Iniguez teaches chess at the SciCore Academy and has worked closely with Costas.
"You compare [him] with the other kids of his age, it's extraordinary. The United States Chess Federation already ranked him in the 30th position, that is spectacular. I think it's spectacular if you consider the time he has been involved with chess," says Iniguez. "Chess is a matter of experience and reality. The more you practice, the more you get better."
The improvement extends far beyond the game board according to Danette Poulos, Vice Principal and Co-Owner of the SciCore Academy. She also teaches math and reading to the younger grades.
"I've noticed that the more they play chess, the quicker they've become in solving mathematical expressions," says Poulos.
Since SciCore Academy, a K-12 school, introduces the game to children when they first enter the school, it's helped produce some older student champions as well. Nine-year old Rishi Rajendram won the national championship last year and 2nd place in other national tournaments.
"That felt amazingly," says the 4th grader. "I felt I was finally a champion."
SciCore, a school for accelerated students, has a diverse student body. Denise Cherdock, a 5th grader, started practicing at age five with her grandfather who was a professor in Russia.
"If you lose to a boy, it doesn't really matter because they're always going to be nice to you," says Cherdock. "So if you're a girl you don't have to feel worried."
It's an aspect of the game that SciCore prides itself in.
"Before I teach them how the pieces move, I teach them chess manners," says Iniguez. "Chess manners are universal manners you can use in anything; how to sit properly, don't talk loud."
And Iniguez has seen that planning ahead in chess can translate to planning ahead in life.
"When I spoke with some kids who don't play chess sometimes and I ask them 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' many times they say 'I don't know,'" says Iniguez. "Chess players know."
When Rajendram and Oskiper are asked that very question, their response is no surprise.
"I want to be a grand master when I grow up," says Rajendram.
"When I grow up I want to be a national champion at chess," says Oskiper, to which I reply 'you already are right?' and he responds "Yeah."
Mix in passion, dedication, and discipline and you get the potential for numerous positive outcomes. A checkmate all around.
Reporting by Lisa Voyticki and Fatih Sahin, Ebru News
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