A bit of strategy -- and mom's help

Jul. 5—Life wouldn't be the same without games. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's about fun in the moment and the enjoyment that will last a lifetime.

Unless you're related to Tristan Perkins, that is.

Perkins, 17 and a Lockport resident, is currently competing in the 2023 World Open Chess Tournament in Philadelphia. He learned the game from his mom, Keri, who says Tristan has outgrown her and their family as opponents.

"We all stopped playing with him years ago. No fun," Keri Perkins said with a laugh.

The entire family, mom, dad and older brother Ethan, make Tristan's tournaments part of their vacations. He goes into a ballroom or convention hall to play, and when he's done, they all go out sightseeing.

"We all travel as a family," Keri said. "We make a vacation out of it."

Tristan and other members of the Golden Knights National Scholastic Chess Team, formed in 2013, and mentored by Coach Michael McDuffie have been doing this for years, and so have their families. Tristan has played competitive chess since elementary school and Keri remembers him and others, including JonLuke Pencille and the Carmina brothers, Ryan and Jonathan, all Lockport residents, playing together at a young age.

As members of the Lockport Golden Knights National Scholastic Chess Team, the group of youngsters won the 2023 United States Chess Federation National High School Chess Championship in Washington, D.C., on April 2.

JonLuke Pencille, now a sophomore at LHS, finished third in a competition of 277 players in the under 1600 section, a personal best. The Carmina brothers and Perkins were 22nd among 60 teams in the Under 1200 section.

Jonluke's mother, Lucy Pencille, remembers when her oldest son, Andrew, bought a book about chess, and the family found out that lessons taught by McDuffie were available at Wegmans. They went and met McDuffie, a U.S. Chess Federation-certified coach, and, long story short, since there was no Lockport team at that time, Lucy opened her home to local novices. Once a week, interested youths would crowd around her kitchen table with McDuffie to learn the game by playing it.

Jonluke, now 15, was in preschool at the time and he couldn't get enough of it, his mom said.

Eventually the group found a home base at Lockport Family YMCA. Andrew went on to college, graduating from the University of Buffalo with a degree in psychology. Andrew no longer plays competitively, but the two brothers play occasionally as part of a "sibling rivalry" said Lucy.

But the world of chess goes beyond the family and makes for some interesting war stories, according to Jonluke. Just this year, he was in one game that he might never forget.

"In the last tournament I played, I was in a match for three or four hours," he said. "Stressful. We were the last ones playing that round. I won, but that was one memorable game."

As for the Carmina brothers, Jonathan graduated high school this year. He said he'd continue playing, even as he goes to the University at Buffalo for classes, but will probably "cool down" on competitions, at least until he gets acclimated to college life.

"It's like running where you see yourself grow and get better," Jonathan said. "Except here you see yourself gaining mental fortitude. You just need a little bit more."

As for his younger brother, Ryan, 14, he said that he doesn't really remember the games and thinks of it as just a pleasant past-time.

"It's not the games I really remember, it's the places we went," he said. "I mean we went to Nevada and North Carolina and all that because of chess."

Kelly, his mother agreed, and noted that Ryan may have been the low-man for the team, he was also younger and with kids his own age, he inevitably triumphed.

"He loved teaching other kids," she said. "He would take a draw just so they wouldn't feel bad."

As for herself, she said chess taught her boys that there were good days and bad days. You just have to push on through.

Currently the Lockport Golden Knights have no permanent place to meet and a house is chosen to get together, however McDuffie is available to take calls and give directions to those who are just interested or are playing the game avidly as to where to connect with more players.

He can be reached at knightsof64@yahoo.com.