The 2022 Ohio Grade Level Championship took place on Saturday, November 5th and was held by Discovery Chess.
The tournament was a great success! Check out the stunning photos taken by Marcus Photography.
Thank you Ohio players for an excellent 2022 Ohio Chess Congress! Enjoy these pics from the event.
You may view the standings in our tournament results section:
https://ohchess.org/tournaments/results.html
Also, a big congratulations to NM DeShawn Kelley who retained his title and is our 2022 Ohio Chess Champion!
The Bishops of Belmont Chess Club
A different kind of chess club.
I heard about him before I met him. There was a chess player back in West Dorm. Reportedly, he was very good. Rumor had it, he was a high-ranking gang member, an OG (Original Gangster). It was not a rumor that this chess player hated the police and anyone else in an authority position. That could be taken as fact. I, as a correction officer, would be at the top of his “not to be trusted” list. Regardless, the guys in the chess club talked about him a lot and boasted about having been beaten by him. Whether on the chess board or in real life, they were all afraid of him. His name was Pierce.1
One day, I walked back to West Dorm with the purpose of finding, meeting, and playing this gentleman in the Game of Kings. He wasn’t hard to find. Back in a corner of the Quiet Room, clad in green (a gang color), sitting at a table with a chess board and an opponent in front of him, surrounded by soldiers, he sat his throne like a king holding court. As soon as I came into the area, he knew I was there. With a glance, he took my measure and went back to his game. With a glance, I took his measure. I thought him a distinguished-looking gentleman; intelligent beyond what anyone had ever given him credit for. But there was a fierceness to him as well. This was a man who knew violence. Were he not in here, and maybe in another place and time, this man could command armies.
I approached his table, stood off to the side, and watched his game. He was destroying the young man across from him. The game ended. The vanquished paid his debt and left. Betting on chess games in prison is common.
“A game…?” I asked before anyone could sit down.
He looked at me suspiciously. The room grew quiet. With a wave of his hand, he invited me to sit. I reset my board, then extended my hand. In prison, a correction officer (CO), challenging an inmate to a game of chess was unheard of. A CO offering to shake an inmate’s hand, strictly taboo. He looked at my hand, looked up at me, and smiled. Shaking my hand, we commenced our battle.
There are no secrets in prison. A CO playing an inmate in chess, especially in the dorm area, the inmate’s home turf, quickly drew a crowd. Pierce won the first game. I took the second. One thing I was certain of, this King was happy to be challenged. We reset the board for the third game. I opened with e4. He countered. I put out my hand to shake his. He didn’t understand but reached out and clasped my hand. I gripped hard not allowing him to release his grip.
“Do you want to see how this ends?” I challenged.
His eyes grew shrewd and suspicious. He smelled a trap. He had never in his life had cause to ever trust the “police” …but he couldn’t resist. He nodded.
“Be at the chess club Friday night.” I released my grip, stood, and left.
That Friday, Mr. Pierce was the first at the club. In his wake, a few of his friends followed. Over the chess board that night, we took each other’s measure in full and found each other worthy. We played three or four games that night. At the end of our bout, he reached out his hand to shake mine. When I gripped his hand, he clenched mine, hard.
“Mr. Cannon, you are a true gentleman,” he said, refusing to release my grip, “and it is always a pleasure to play chess with a gentleman.” He released my grip and walked out.
Add articulate, eloquent, and fearless to his list of qualities.
The following week, he was back. Over the next year, Pierce and I played each other in countless games. Sometimes he won. Sometimes, I won. We no longer kept score. We just enjoyed playing each other. I noticed the guys from his crew started acting different, not just towards me, but to all the COs. They were more respectful, a little more relaxed in the presence of officers.
One day, I shared my chess story with Mr. Pierce. I shared with him how at a very young age, a stern old man, Mr. Shy, took me off the streets, gave me a place to belong, taught me chess and judo, and probably saved my life. I always become very emotional when telling this story. I didn’t realize the importance of this man in my life until a year after his passing. The strongest men are the most emotional, and Pierce was no different. At the close of my story, we both sat with tears in our eyes.
“Is it your move or mine, CO?”
“Yours…I think.”
The following week, Mr. Pierce brought with him Mr. Hoyt, a likely young lad with quick, perceptive eyes and a smile that looked too innocent to be in prison. Pierce had been teaching Hoyt for a while.
“Mr. Cannon, this is Hoyt. He thinks he’s a chess player.” Pierce smiled. “Think you can give him a game?”
“Certainly,” I replied, very much aware of the honor being bestowed upon me. I reached out my hand to shake the young man’s. He recoiled in fear. Pierce laughed.
A few more months went by. Hoyt became stronger with every game he played. Mr. Pierce was one of only four inmates to beat Tom Britt in a simul event we put on here at Belmont Correctional Institution. Mr. Pierce became a respected teacher in the club, helping dozens of aspiring chess masters to improve their game. He was unselfish and generous with his time and knowledge. He was coming to understand the difference between being feared versus being respected.
Prior to his release, Mr. Pierce and I sat down to play a few games. Before each member of the Bishops of Belmont goes home, I reserve a night to sit down with them and play…just them. I always record the matches, and if they ask why, I always tell them, “Because I want to remember you forever.”
We parted that night, not as CO and inmate, not as adversaries or enemies, but as friends.
As I often do, before every major chess event we put on here at Belmont Correctional Institution, I share my chess story with the club. The simul with Tom Britt was no different. Some heard it for the first time. Some heard it a dozen times before. All paid me the courtesy and respect to sit and listen. Mr. Hoyt heard the story for the first time.
A month after Mr. Pierce left, I was standing at the door of the club welcoming everyone. Mr. Hoyt came around the corner pushing a gentleman in a wheelchair. He stopped to introduce us.
“Mr. Cannon, this is Mr. Thomas. Mr. Shy gave it to you. You gave it to Mr. Pierce. Mr. Pierce gave it to me. Now I’m gonna give it to Mr. Thomas.”
I smiled broadly, a lump in my throat. I could not have been prouder of Mr. Hoyt if he was my own son. I thrust out my hand to shake Mr. Thomas’s. He recoiled. Mr. Hoyt laughed.
Mr. Hoyt and Mr. Thomas are still here, playing chess at the Bishops of Belmont Chess Club, at the Belmont Correctional Institution in St. Clairsville, Ohio, every Friday night. They are both in training for two upcoming major events: The Gauntlet Chess Challenge with Tom Britt on August 19th, and the Belmont Breakout, a United States Chess Federation sanctioned tournament on October 8th.
Mr. Pierce is doing well. Hoyt talks to him on the phone weekly. Hoyt always tells me about his conversations with Pierce. Pierce is selling cars in Akron. “He always asks about you, Mr. Cannon,” Hoyt relates.
“Tell Pierce I said hello the next time you talk to him.” I turn away. I do miss my old friend.
****
Walk into any prison in the nation, take a stroll around their recreation yard, visit their toughest cell blocks or dormitories, stop by the gymnasium or the library, peek into the disciplinary cells, and it is a sure bet that you will see more than a few incarcerated felons hunched over chess boards. You might even find the disorganized fragments of what the prison passes off as a chess club. What you probably won’t find is an organized club that focuses the offender’s minds, alters their attitude, builds their character, shatters paradigms, and fosters a sense of tolerance, inclusion, and community.
I could have told you that since 2014, the Bishops of Belmont Chess Club at Belmont Correctional Institution in St. Clairsville, Ohio, has been an oasis for the lost, the tired, the addicted, the locked away and the forgotten, the alone, the scared, and yes, the victimizers and the predators. I could have boasted about all the special events we’ve conducted over the years. I could have flooded you with facts and awed you with our 19% recidivism rate. I could have reviewed all the positive character- building qualities of chess and how they are conducive to rehabilitation. I could have told you about the nearly zero percent disciplinary record of those involved in the chess club.
But this is not what the Bishop of Belmont Chess Club is about. The Bishops of Belmont are about the men who buy into this concept, who genuinely try to change their attitudes and their life through the lessons chess teaches. The story of the Bishops of Belmont cannot be told without telling the stories of the countless men who have been involved with and benefited from the club.
Oh, and if you want to meet Mr. Hoyt and Mr. Thomas, they will both be competing in the upcoming Belmont Breakout on October 8th. Come, sit across from them over a chess board. Share your chess story with them. Listen to their chess story. Become part of their chess story.
David Cannon
Correction Officer; Belmont Correctional Institution (david.w.cannon@odrc.state.oh.us)
Facilitator; Bishops of Belmont Chess Club, Belmont Correctional Institution, St. Clairsville, Ohio
Prison Chess Liaison Officer; Ohio Chess Association
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1 All names changed to protect inmate privacy/confidentiality.
Congratulations to Christopher Shen who won a 2021 Scholar-Chessplayer Award!
To qualify for this award, applicants must show outstanding achievement in academics and chess, complete at least one year of chess-related community service and write a compelling essay on how the award will help the recipient to further their education, improve their chess, and allow them to continue contributing to the chess community. Read the full article and see the other winners selected by US Chess HERE.
THE AMAZING ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CHRISTOPHER SHEN
Christopher Shen is an American chess FIDE Master. He clinched an IM norm by winning the 2019 Charlotte IM Fall Invitational, with a performance rating of 2505.
He finished second place in the U-18 section at the 2019 Pan American Youth Championship in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He qualified for the U.S. Junior Championship by winning the 2019 U.S. Junior Open in Chicago, IL. Christopher is also a student-athlete of fencing sport and he is a current member of the All-American Fencing Team of High School. Chris was featured in THIS ARTICLE by CityScene and also was awarded the Princeton Prize in Race Relations Certificate of Accomplishment.
INTERVIEW WITH FM SHEN
What are your plans in terms of your chess journey for 2021-22?
I will soon return to the chessboard starting from the Pittsburgh Open in July as a warm-up to prepare myself for the Denker National High School Championships. This year, I again became Ohio’s delegate to play the Denker National, and hopefully, I will advance further from last year’s 6th place. I will then play the 2021 North American Youth Championship in Chicago, IL, in August as the US Chess Team U18 Official Delegate.
However, the overarching chess plan of 2021-22 is to secure my International Master (IM) norms and title. As a rising senior in high school, I will face a huge challenge to balance my life between academics, community leadership, and chess. But, I’m still quite confident that I’ll achieve the IM title as long as the tournament normalcy in the country is stable.
Q: Do you have any chess goals?
My short-term goal is to play well in the upcoming national and North American tournaments. My mid-term goal is to obtain an IM title, while the long-term goal is to achieve the Grand Master (GM) title. Besides that, I will do my best to advance chess in the community and allow more children to enjoy and experience the game. In the past three years of my community engagement, I’ve actively led and observed chess as both a board game and a cultural bridge to help us make our community stronger. So, I look forward to continuing working as an advocate of chess and inspiring others along the way.
Q: Has the pandemic helped or hurt your chess and if so, why?
The pandemic adversely impacted my chess career in 2020-2021 because my opportunities for competing for IM norms have stopped since March 2020. I earned my first IM norm in Charlotte, NC, in November 2019, and I was optimistic that I would soon obtain the other two norms and ratings required for the IM title.
However, the pandemic has also allowed me to spend more time building up my community through chess involvement. Throughout the past 12 months, I launched a free weekly chess tutoring program (“Our Friday”) on the internet. The program has taught basic chess skills to numerous children from central Ohio, and it has allowed them to enjoy and interact with other chess-lovers. This spring, three members have won top trophies in entry-level sessions at the State Elementary Championship and the State All Girls. During winter break, I even found time to edit teaching handouts and authored my first chess tactics book, which is currently available. Through teaching chess, I realized the need for robust education opportunities, particularly for children in low-income communities when life transformed into an online experience.
I then came up with an idea to launch a literacy program to help disadvantaged children in K-5 grades improve their reading comprehension skills through weekly 1-to-1 meets. We also founded an Antiracist Book Club for high schoolers in central Ohio. The outcome is quite promising, and I firmly believe that equitable access to educational resources for children is one of the critical steps to achieve an equal community.
Last summer, I also organized a program, 64 People on 64 Squares, in which I invited a scholastic team of talented chess players from across the country to compete against a strong team from Canada. The US team included young players from eight ethnicity and racial groups, and ten states. This year, I co-founded the Columbus High School Chess League with the partnership of three independent schools and seven public schools from five districts in central Ohio, attracting more adolescents to explore chess culture. Because of my efforts of spreading the love of chess and helping make a more inclusive community, I was recently awarded the Princeton Prize in Race Relations Certificate of Accomplishment. I am grateful to be in a position to lead the community I love, and I’m excited about the future.
Congratulations to Destynn Keuchel who won a 2021 Scholar-Chessplayer Award! Destynn is not only a National Master of chess, a title he achieved in 2019, but he has dedicated much of his time into helping others. Well earned, Destynn. Well earned.
To qualify for this award, applicants must be US Chess members and meet these requirements:
Read the full article and see the other winners selected by US Chess HERE.
The Tournament Director of the Year Award was won by the late Joe Yun this year! For anyone that knew Joe and the high quality and efficiency of his tournaments, of course this is not a surprise. Joe was not only a force in Ohio but an experienced National TD of the highest quality and this award was certainly well earned.
You can read more about Joe Yun HERE.
You can see a full list of the 2021 US Chess Annual Awards HERE.
