Young whizzes flourish in Fremont

By Renee Koury San Jose Mercury News© March 27, 1991

They can barely see above the king and queen, but several Fremont tykes have mastered the classic war game of chess--and are beating savvy adults five times their age. This month, a team from Weibel Elementary won first place and a team from Mission San Jose won second place at a Northern California chess competition in Marin County. The schools also boosted the two top two individual winners: Kevin Simler of Mission San Jose and Micah Fischer-Kirshner of Weibel, both 9. In April, several of Fremont's child chess whizzes will travel to New York to compete in a national tournament. The Fremont chess champs reflect what seems to be a growing popularity for the thinker's game among very young children. Bob Nasiff, assistant director of the U.S. Chess Federation, said more children compete in the national chess competition each year. The tournament for kids started in 1979 with fewer than 150 elementary students. This year the federation expects up to 1400 children to participate. "Anyone can play chess, no matter what their age, " Nasiff

said. "It might even be easier for children. When you're young, you are more carefree. You don't get as tensed up and afraid to make moves as older people do. I've seen a lot of children beating older people. There's nothing more scary for an adult than to play some little skinny kid with glasses and get beat." Kevin Simler, the Northern California elementary school champ, has often beaten his own father and other adults at chess. "I like it because it's hard, so it's a challenge," said Kevin, a third-grader who clinched first place by winning five straight games at the March 9 competition. "You never have the same game twice." Kevin brought home a trophy that stands half as tall as his own 4-foot, 1-inch frame. His secret? "I take a long time for each move," he said, "and I like the gambit strategy. You put one of your pieces where they can get it if they want. It worked." Now Kevin is preparing for the National Competition, reading chess books and memorizing "games" worked out by chess masters. He's already committed 65 strategies to memory

The Fremont chess lovers, some as young as 5 years old, are part of a growing group of students joining chess clubs at several Fremont elementary schools, inspired by their parents who have already mastered skills and strategies. "We've really got something going in Fremont," said Joe Lonsdale, who taught his two sons to play chess before they could read books. ":Chess teaches them to sit still. It teaches them to think. Now, they're no longer playing like kids." Lonsdales coaches about 50 children at mission San Jose who like to compete with their Weibel School peers. About 85 youngsters at Weibel are coached by parent Alan Kirshner, whose 9-year-old son, Micah, placed second in the March 9 competition, and his8-year-old son, Tov, came in third last year. "I've beat a lot of college people," said Tov, who has been playing chess four years. "It's easy because they don't have as much experience as me. You got to always control the center and get all your pieces in. I like to get the other guy embarrassed. It's fun to win trophies."