Athens chess whiz wins regional title
· Yahoo Sports
Jun. 18—Chess whiz Austin Turner feels pretty good about finally being able to defeat his chess coach.
He's done even better than that.
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The Athens Middle School student, 13, recently finished first in the PlayVS South Central Region Chess League. He competed in the online chess tournament against more than 100 chess players from 13 states, and finished the season 9-2.
Turner's coach is Ben Tucker, head coach for the Esports program at Athens City Schools and also seventh and eighth grade history teacher at Athens Middle. Tucker is proud of the chess player Turner has become.
"He has a really good mind for it," Tucker said. "I have been playing chess for 25 or 30 years. Austin and I started playing over the last couple of years, and he was the first student to beat me. I really prided myself on not having any students up on the board that had beaten me. Then this guy comes along and puts me in my place. It was a great moment."
He said he has enjoyed watching Turner grow and get better.
"Austin is a great chess player," Tucker said. "His mind is sharp and he can really think ahead. I've played chess for more than 25 years, and Austin's got the right tools to go far in his chess career."
Turner is a member of the Athens Middle School Esports team. Esports refers to the organized, competitive playing of video games, where professional gamers or teams go head-to-head in structured tournaments and leagues, much like traditional sports. A huge variety of Esports games are now played competitively online in games such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2 or Dota.
Turner's championship win marks the first league title in Athens Middle's program history and builds on his performance in this past fall's Esports season. In that season, he finished second in league competition.
Turner will attend Athens High School in the fall as a ninth grader, and he will continue his chess playing on the high school Esports team. Right now — in the offseason — he plays chess a few times a week but during the season he plays nearly every day, he said.
When Turner and his coach play at Esports practices, they play on an actual chessboard with pieces. All of the competitions, however, are played online.
"I communicate with my opponent on a computer app called Play Versus, which is basically an app for Esports," Turner said. "Then we go to a different app called Chess Kids, where we actually play."
Turner said being a good chess player involves certain skills.
"Basically, you have to know how all of the pieces move and some good tactics and openings," Turner said. "But the mid-game is all about IQ and predicting your opponent's next move, so you know what you are going to play next."
Tucker said there is a lot of strategy involved in chess.
"You are required to predict and read what your opponent is going to do," he said. "You have to stay three or four steps ahead and hope you eventually trap your opponent and get that checkmate."
Turner said it feels "pretty good" to be named one of the best players around.
"It's a good accomplishment knowing that I placed first in the Southeast," Turner said. He said it also "feels good" to beat his coach.
Tucker said Esports is the fastest growing community and the fastest growing sport in the country right now.
"There are so many opportunities opening up for our students," Tucker said.
This includes scholarships for players of Nintendo, League of Legends, Rocket League, chess and others for those playing for their college Esports teams, Tucker said.
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