At this year’s AIA Individual State Chess Championship, several sports including Chess, competed to earn medals. In the tournament’s Chess category, three assiduous students from ACP placed in the top three. Among these three, sophomore, Jayden Lee was named the AIA Individual State Chess Champion. He explained, “I felt grateful and euphoric knowing all my prodigious work throughout the tournament paid off.” It was in the first grade when Jayden’s fervent for Chess began. He wanted to try something new, and it seemed like a great opportunity to strengthen his abilities for memory and concentration.

After playing Chess for a while, Jayden realized that competing against other people in chess would give him the chance to ameliorate his skill level, and as Jayden started competing, he developed a tenacious passion due to the calculations on the board and lessons he could learn from the game from other players. Jayden not only had to prepare for the games, but for all of the games he needed to give all of his effort and be focused to win. As he describes, “It was very stressful, but after each game I would be relieved and raptured for the next game.” Jayden would definitely like to compete again as it is a phenomenal experience to not only improve your skill by playing against the top high school players, but to have fun while still trying to be competitive. Although he most likely will not pursue Chess professionally, there is a possibility he could be a coach to spread his knowledge to other players. However, Jayden will definitely still be playing chess when he gets older.

Chess is a game that enhances your mind’s ability to concentrate, memorize, and to be disciplined. These skills are useful not only in Chess, but in everyday life. It is a competitive game that makes you strive to improve so you can be the best. If you are looking to pursue playing and competing in Chess, Jayden has a piece of advice, and that is, “Be patient while trying to improve because success doesn’t come instantly and play with other people because there’s always some things you can learn from other players. Furthermore, don’t let losses bring you down because there’s nothing you can change about a loss, so you might as well try to learn the most from it and forget it.” Jayden Lee did an impeccable job, and he is an epitome for high schoolers dedicated to Chess. All of our accomplishments make up the ACP family, and we will continue to reach for the best. Go Knights!