Baker Chess for Success players take on state tournament

Apr. 20—For the 16 players in Baker City's Chess for Success program who competed in the state tournament last weekend in Salem, the wins were welcome and the losses were lessons.

The pawn emblazoned on their team T-shirts bears the team's motto: "Even Pawns are Powerful."

"A great slogan and reminder for our small town kids who went to the big city to compete at the highest level of chess competition our chess kids can play in," coach Ian Wolfe said. "This year's T-shirt was designed by program director Heidi Stocks and made by Elkhorn Embroidery. It features an outline of the state of Oregon with a yellow star marking Baker City."

Baker players ranged from third through 12th grades.

On Friday, April 14, elementary and middle school students competed.

"The team portion pairs five of our kids versus five members of another team," Wolfe said. "The best score out of the five games wins the round and one point. If there is a tie, each team gets five points. Our teams fought hard and did their best, which was all I could ask for as a coach. They didn't quit even when at times it was hard to keep going."

Baker's elementary team tied for seventh place with 1.5 points out of a possible 5.

"Our team ran up against some really tough schools from around the state," Wolfe said. "The kids all stayed positive and kept going. Will Brockman and Jace Carroll led the way with big wins for our team and put up really good individual wins. Easton Stocks, Carson Ratliff, Bella Torres and Tessa Stocks all contributed to getting us to that 1.5 score."

Baker's middle school team tied for fifth place with 2.5 points.

"In spite of our disappointing team scores overall we had some fantastic individual performances on their teams," Wolfe said. "Jarren Cikanek (eighth grader) went five for five, winning all of his games. Really proud of what he was able to accomplish for the Baker team.

"We also had two others on the team, Benjamin Bradford and Dallin Stocks, who put in really good performances as well," Wolfe said. "Rounding out the team was Jacob Burton and Jace Whitford who were able to come up with some key wins and draws."

On Saturday, April 15, there was an individual tournament for third and fourth graders, with fifth through eighth graders also facing off in individual matches.

"Here our kids again faced some really tough opponents, but we had some really good performances," Wolfe said. "Jace Carroll, Easton Stocks, Kayson Crowther, Dallin Stocks all scored 2/5. Benjamin Bradford had an outstanding performance with 3.5/5 and tied for third place in the eighth grade division.

"All more impressive is Benjamin's score in that he did it with a broken wrist that occurred just minutes before the tournament started on Friday morning," Wolfe said. "After the tournament on Friday the team spent two hours on the bus outside an urgent care center while we found out he had fractured his wrist and got it splinted."

He credited the players with being patient despite the unexpected delay.

"That time on the bus the kids didn't complain," Wolfe said. "They didn't get angry while their dinner was delayed. They stuck with their teammate, just showed how truly special these kids are. When Benjamin made it back onto the bus the kids broke out in applause and well wishes for him."

High school

For the older players, competition was fierce from the onset.

"Our two high school students that went to the state tournament participated in a five-round individual tournament spanning Friday and Saturday," Wolfe said. "Unfortunately our kids ran up against some very strong opponents at the state tournament and ended up losing all of their games. But Chadd Hillman and Justin Wolfe represented Baker well and were the very first of our high school kids to ever participate at a state chess tournament."

Baker's team didn't come home empty-handed, either.

The elementary players won a trophy in the T-shirt competition.

"They did us proud and never quit even in the face of defeat," Wolfe said. "We can't wait to get back to the state tournament next year and improve on our scores."