May,1995
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Searching for Bobby Fisher Types?
Look No further than State's No. 1 Team
By Sarah Greenberg
The Central Chess Team topped all schools in the state in the Connecticut Scholastic Chess Championships held at Greenwich Country Day School in March. 170 players from New York State and Connecticut competed in the tournament.
"It was a tough competition. Only the best teams come to play for the championships," said Chess club advisor James McMath. "In order to win the awards you have to play against terrific teams and terrific players."
Led by Coach Mike Bukovcik, Central players brought great passion to learning new strategies and tactics. They even practiced on Saturdays and participated in an Honors program. The top players at the tournament for Central were sophomores Brian Phan and Scott Taing, and freshmen Alexander Pagan and Jermaine Panetto.
McMath says that the Chess Club gets students more involved in school. "It activates your mind, builds up your self esteem and helps you to do better in school and improve your grades," said McMath.
The Chess Club was started up in the early 1970's, but was inactive for a few years. The Chess Club now is stronger than ever before. Their next goal may be to compete in the National Chess Tournament held in New York.
The tournament was sponsored by the National Scholastic Chess Foundation, a non-profit corporation headquartered in Stamford. The NSCF promotes the study of chess as an educational tool in curricular classes and enrichment programs for elementary, middle and high schools.
"Chess is one of the oldest and most challenging games, which is showing remarkable results as one of the latest pedagogical tools for youngsters. Through the game of chess, children learn concentration and disciplined thinking skills which are applicable to other intellectual endeavors," said a spokesman for the foundation.
