Chess team advisor and players recall the road to victories.
The MVHS chess team brought home gold from the States competition on April 26. Weeks later, during lunch, team advisor English teacher Scott Catrette laid out the various trophies from previous years on tables — team trophies, individual trophies, states competition trophies and national trophies.
“We could play a chess game with these trophies,” Catrette said.
Amongst them, the one that stood out was the cubical district trophy covered with brass plates with the winning school names and years. Catrette turned the heavy trophy and pointed at the brown brass plate that read “Monta Vista 2008”. In 2008, MVHS won the district trophy for the first time, and thus began its road to victories.
“I still remember winning first place in the district for the first time,” Catrette said. “It was very exciting… We broke Lynbrook’s streak of winning.”
Though he forgot the key players of that year, Catrette did remember that the enthusiasm for chess was all the same throughout the years. The highly motivated team prepared for the competitions by themselves.
When he went to the Nationals and State competitions, team captain sophomore Neel Apte used tactic books and online games to hone his skills. Overall, Apte felt that the games at the Nationals were harder because the competition brought together players from across the nation and also because it was his second time playing in the Nationals; he has been to four State competitions and won first place for the past three years. This year, however, he left some regrets behind.
“I should have tied the last game in the State competition,” Apte said. “But I ended up losing the game.”
“There is a saying in chess: ‘play the board, not the opponent.’” sophomore Neel Apte.
When asked if the loss was because of nervousness of facing strong opponents, Apte shook his head and claimed that he tried not to let his emotions influence the game.
“There is a saying in chess: ‘play the board, not the opponent,’” Apte said.
After losing the game, Apte reflected on his overall game tactics and found some flaws. He is going to play more games during the summer, games that might help him win a scholarship. He will use the same methods to prepare for the games.
“A good thing about chess is that if you prepare for one competition, you are prepared for most of the other competitions,” Apte said. “The preparation is the same.”
Similarly, for senior Rohan Kasiviswanathan, the best game preparation were playing online games and reading tactic books. Having been in the chess team since freshman year, Kasiviswanathan remembers how his game ratings had been stagnant for a long time until his freshman year.
“It was probably the biggest setback I faced,” Kasiviswanathan said. “But I just came to the team meeting more and practiced more.”
Nowadays, he can only devote one hour every week on chess because of course load. However, he will continue playing during the summer and also in college.
“You want to keep your chess sharp; you don’t want it rusted,” Catrette said during the last meeting of the year. “We have come a long way, so keep [it] up.”
