Ari Drucker (left) and Patrick Vitale.
Two Prospect Hill second graders, Ari Drucker and Patrick Vitale, placed first and second for their age group in the 53rd Annual New York State Scholastic Chess Championship, held online for the first time due to the pandemic. After two days and six rounds of hard-fought competitive chess, Drucker scored a perfect six wins to take first place in the competition. Vitale captured second with five wins, one draw and no losses.
Also on the Prospect Hill team in the primary K-3 division was third grader Ethan Teitelbaum, and as a team, Prospect Hill took fifth place. Over 1,100 students from around New York State competed in the tournament. The Pelham students had been practicing weekly with Zoom classes throughout the pandemic and were excited to play in the statewide tournament.
In total, 14 Pelham students played during the weekend, through an online chess server. After each game finished, the students would log into a Zoom team room where chess coach Mike Ellenbogen, who also teaches chess during lunchtime enrichment in the district, and his colleagues, Felix Lopez and Jon Zachary, would go over each game and get the students ready for the next round. The competitors rooted hard for each other, celebrating wins and cheering up teammates after a tough loss.
In past years, the state tournament was held in Saratoga Springs. But like many other activities, it was forced to move online for 2021.
Chess has had a huge boost in popularity over the past year of the pandemic, driven in part by the growth of online chess sites and tournaments, including those aimed at children. Personalized and group online chess lessons have also become popular, especially with people spending more time at home.
The full list of Pelham participants was as follows:
Prospect Hill
Adam Roman, fifth grade
Ethan Teitelbaum, third grade
Ari Drucker, second grade
Patrick Vitale, second grade
Drew Rosado, first grade
Colonial
Anton Berman, first grade
Xander Berman, third grade
Edward Spencer, fifth grade
Hutchinson
Katie Howard, fifth grade
Quinn Regelmann, third grade
Pelham Middle School
Kelvin Shehu, seventh grade
Kieran Normoyle, seventh grade
Lila Carpenter, sixth grade
Todd Kermann, sixth grade
For information on the Pelham chess program, reach out to Mike Ellenbogen at pelhamchess@gmail.com.