Chess teams get big surprise before victories

The Wydown Middle School chess teams got a big surprise at the start of their trip to the 2003 Missouri state chess tournament. They went to Jefferson City but, at the last minute, their coach went to Iraq.

When the kids showed up at the school for 5:30 a.m. start, Coach Napoleon Carter was on hand. But, he was dressed in a regulation military camouflage uniform.

That was the first the kids knew their coach wasn't going with them to the state meet. He's a major in a reserve medical evacuation unit that was activated.

His school stop was his last civilian business before he headed to the war zone.

That put the 6th and 8th grade teams under direction of interim coach Rick Voskuil for the state meet.

A few days later, when Carter made a short phone call to the school, he got good news.

The Wydown 6th grade team of Mack Su, Chung-Rok Lee, Rowland Han and Edward Monson won the state team title.

The school's 8th grade team of Ka-chuan Suen, Marek Paplowski, Charles Johnson and Jim An won second place in their age group. They tied for first but another team was awarded first place on tie-breakers.

Kids from other St. Louis schools won individual titles.

Tony Cao of Parkway West Middle School was the 8th grade individual winner. (Young Saint Louis.com featured Tony in a profile in April, 2002, when he also won a state title. To read that story, click here.)

Kevin Guo of Parkway Central Middle School won the 6th grade individual title.

(For complete chess information, log on to www.gatewaychess.org.)

Most of the Wydown chess kids remembered Major Carter as a good coach.

Sixth-grader Rowland Han said, "He is pretty strict but he also is fun."

Eighth-grader Jim An said, "He is a good guy and a good coach even if he isn't a very good chess player."

Several of the team members said the state tournament victories were among their best experiences in chess.

Fourteen-year-old An and 12-year-old Chung-Rok Lee said the state tournament competition marked the first time they won trophies.

Some of the team members have played chess since they were much younger. But, 13-year-old Merek Paplowski said he's only been at it two years. He said an elementary school teacher got him interested.

Thirteen-year-old Charlie Johnson said his dad got him interested three years ago. Asked about his dad's game, Charlie said, "He's easy to beat. I don't play him anymore."

Twelve-year-old Rowland Han said his dad also got him interested in chess. But, unlike Charlie Johnson's experience, Rowland said his dad "still beats me almost every time."

Most of the kids say their worst experiences in chess involve getting beat by younger and less experienced players.

Thirteen-year-old Ka-chuan Suen said he gets beat "usually when I get careless."

Suen and other players said the best way to get better at chess is to play more experienced players. Johnson said he often gets beat "if I underestimate a younger player." But, he added, "Most of the time I play kids who are in high school."

One thing you notice when you go to chess club meetings at Wydown is the noise. If you've watched a high-profile chess match, you notice how serious and quiet players are.

Johnson said, "You'd think if you go to a tournament it would be quiet. But, we're not like that." He also termed the bus ride to Jefferson City as "noisy but fun."

Interim coach Voskuil said the school recently got an e-mail from Coach Carter. "You couldn't tell where it came from," he said.

But, Voskuil said Carter wrote he was hoping for an early end to the war "so he could get back to his kids."