Highlands Students Find Success with Chess

Studies have shown that children who play chess reap benefits in everything from problem solving and memory to self-confidence and creativity. If you ask their parents, the chess players are living proof.

John Robinson’s twin sons Jack and Ryan, now 10 years old, have been playing chess since their cousin taught them the game when they were in first grade. By the end of that school year, they would attend their first chess tournament. 

Their first foray into the world of competitive chess was a bit of a shock for Robinson.

“I wasn’t prepared for what I was walking into–almost 600 kids from around the state,” Robinson said. “They didn’t do real well but they came back to chess club in the fall and wanted to do more tournaments.”

The chess club he’s referring to is an after-school club run by three Highlands teachers, Mike Seaman, Mark Wallace and David Sponheim.

Highlands Elementary Principal Peter Hodne clarified that while the school has a sizable chess club, the students attend chess tournaments independently with their families. The Highlands chess team is so called because the students all attend Highlands, but it is not technically a school sponsored team.

The chess club, which has grown in popularity over the last few years, is an important part of the story, however. 

“The core of this is the three teachers who run the chess club. If it wasn’t for them, this wouldn’t be happening,” Robinson said.

Since they started playing chess, Robinson said the changes in his sons have been noticeable and wide-ranging. He has noticed improvements in test scores, confidence, ability to focus, even sports.

“They’ve started to strategically think,” Robinson said. “They stay calmer. They can react differently ... They can deal with disappointment so much better than I could at that age.”

The Robinson twins were quickly hooked on chess tournaments and soon others from the chess club began to compete as well.

One of those students is third-grader Aidan Anselmo. Last winter, Aidan—who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder—came home from school and told his mother Jeanne Anselmo that he wanted to join Highlands' chess club. By springtime, he wanted to compete. He took to it quickly, finding success at tournaments and a therapeutic quality in the game, which helps him to stay calm and focused. 

Anselmo is quick to say she doesn’t advocate chess as a replacement for medication, nor is chess replacing medication for her son. But she did say that chess does something unique for Aidan and when he plays it, he is focused, he’s “in a zone.” Aidan recognizes this as well.

“Aidan will say, ‘I love to be focused.’ He understands it; he talks a lot about his ADD and what calms him,” Anselmo said. 

The chess season runs from October through April, and with an average of two tournaments per month. Robinson said anywhere from 12 and 30 Highlands chess players compete in each one. Robinson also recruited Jiten Pitel to help coach the team. Pitel works one-on-one with some players, attends the tournaments with the Highlands team and also volunteers at the school’s chess club. 

The school-age chess season builds up to the School Chess Association (SCA) Statewide Primary and Elementary Chess Tournament in April, with the SCA’s State Grade Level Chess Championship six weeks prior to it. 

Coming “out of nowhere,” Robinson said the Highlands chess team narrowly missed first place in the K-3 category last year. This year, Highlands took three of the six sections at the State Grade Level tournament (first, third and fourth grades). And with about 75 schools represented, Highlands also took first in the K-3 category at the SCA Statewide tournament. In the 4-6 category, Highlands—with only fourth-graders competing—placed in the top ten.

The Highlands team also placed first and fourth for K-3 and 4-6 respectively at the recent Minnesota State Chess Association tournament, with Aidan Anselmo taking home a trophy for Minnesota State Chess Association Champion.

The t-shirts worn by the team at competitions say Edina Chess, not Highlands Chess, a sign of future aspirations to continue their successful run beyond their time at the elementary school.

One thing’s for sure, these kids aren’t stopping anytime soon. They are driven and determined to succeed.

“What they have done, I step back and just pinch myself,” Robinson said. “You just scratch your head and go, ‘Wow these kids are really doing it.’”