Sperreng 8th grade chess team wins state title

Coach Sam Kassis

Seven years ago, Sam Kassis founded the 8th grade chess team at Sperreng Middle School. The team had no coach, just an advisor. Sam said they did "horribly" in state competition.

This year, Sam is a sophomore in college but also assistant coach of the Sperreng chess team. The 8th graders did much better at state this year. Last month, they won the state title in their age group.

Coach Rick Nelson

And things are looking good for next year. Four of the six Sperreng team members can still compete on the 8th grade team. This year, they were in 6th and 7th grades.

Lindbergh High School chess coach Rick Nelson said his teams

will get a boost too when Sperreng 8th graders Walter Fu and Keegan Barrett move into high school. Actually, Nelson already knows the Sperreng kids because they practice with the high school team.

James Koppel and Walter Fu

Most of the members of the Sperreng 8th grade team started playing chess when they were very young and most got introduced to the game by their dads.

Besides Fu and Barrett, other members of the Sperreng 8th grade team were James Koppel, Smith Mathieu, Ben Wagnon and Thomas Crown.

Keegan Barrett and Smith Mathieu

The team championship is determined by top scores of four team members. The team members with the top scores were Koppel, Fu, Barrett and Mathieu.

Thirteen-year-old James said his dad introduced him to chess at age five. Asked about any competition between dad and son, James said, "The last time we played I beat him."

Ben Wagnon and Thomas Crown

Thirteen-year-old Keegan also started playing chess at five. Asked about his competition with his dad, he said, "I creamed him."

Most of the Sperreng kids said the state tournament title was their best chess experience.

However, Keegan said, "Even over that state win, the best experience I've had was the first time I beat Coach Nelson."

But, he said his worse chess experience happened at this year's state tournament. "In the 5th round I touched the wrong piece. Under the rules, you have to move that piece. That game all fell apart after that," Keegan said.

James said his trip to state earned him more than a piece of the team title. "I also placed third in the state individually," he said.

Twelve-year-old Walter Fu also did well individually. He finished sixth in his age class.

(l to r) Smith Mathieu, Keegan Barrett, Thomas Crown, Ben Wagnon, Walter Fu and James Koppel with their championship plaque.

Twelve-year-old Smith Mathieu said he got into chess because his sister didn't want to play. "My sister got a chess set as a present but she doesn't play," he said.

Smith said his best chess experience happened a couple years ago. "I finished third in state in the 6th and under classification," he said.

Smith wants to continue playing chess but isn't sure about next year. "We're moving to Virginia this summer and I don't know about chess situation there," he said. His father is a professor at Saint Louis University and is moving to James Madison University.

Eleven-year-old Ben Wagnon was playing in his third state competition this year. He also started playing chess young. He said he was in kindergarten when he saw his dad and a friend playing.

Asked about his record in competition with his dad, he said, "I usually beat him unless I'm very tired."

He said his best chess experience was this year's state tournament. Asked about any worst experiences, he said, "I've never had a bad experience in chess but I've had bad tournaments."

Twelve-year-old Thomas Crown said he gains the best chess knowledge when he's getting beat. "My best experience was when I got beat four times in one tournament," he said. "That's when I learned the most," he added.

About bad experiences, he said, "When I first started, I thought I could beat a lot of people. I didn't learn much from that."

All of the team members are looking forward to continuing with their chess playing through high school and college.

Many of them plan to take part in the Lindbergh High School's summer chess program at Truman School. The classes will run from June 14 through August 4. It's for kids K-12 and is held three days a week for three hours.

The kids get both instruction and competition every day. Kids can sign up for any two-week period. Coaches Rick Nelson and Sam Kassis will teach. For information, call (314) 729-2400, extension 1515, or (314) 712-1089.

(For more about St. Louis area chess, visit www.gatewaychess.org.)

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