Chess Wizard Emaad Saad works with students at the St. Mary of the Assumption School after-school Chess Wizards Club. Pilot photo/Wes Cipolla
BROOKLINE -- Those walking through St. Mary of the Assumption School in Brookline on a Wednesday afternoon may hear the sounds of children screaming and laughing echoing down the halls.
What could possibly elicit such extreme reactions from students after a long school day? A game of chess.
The first-to-fifth-grade students in St. Mary's after-school Chess Wizards Club bring a level of enthusiasm to chess that is typically reserved for professional football games. When The Pilot visited the club on Oct. 2, the grandmasters-in-training exuberantly celebrated their victories and loudly debated which moves were legal.
"Patrick, you're getting destroyed!" exclaimed Lewi, a fourth grader. "Only two pawns?"
"I'm trying to get a stalemate!" replied Patrick, also a fourth grader.
Patrick has been playing chess since he was in kindergarten. Both of his grandfathers were chess tournament winners. His father taught him and his brother how to play. He has been in Chess Wizards since first grade and thinks "it's a good way to consume your time."
"I like reading books about wars and history and stuff like that," he told The Pilot. "So I guess it has something to do with that, because of kings, queens, and battle strategy."
His favorite strategy is the four-move or scholar's checkmate, which involves tricking one's opponent into making the wrong moves. Such a ruse is difficult to pull on his classmates, he said, because they're so smart.
"When I outsmart people, it's kind of fun," he said.
Lewi's favorite thing about chess is the queen, because she can move in any direction. He got his start playing chess with his cousins. His favorite strategy is to "rush" his opponents.
"Pressure them," he explained. "Make them worry."
However, he said, chess can be challenging "because the pawns can't go far."
Chess Wizards is an organization that runs after-school chess classes in schools across the U.S. St. Mary's has partnered with Chess Wizards for over a decade.
"Students get excited for chess," said St. Mary's Director of After-School Programs Nicole Tiney. "I think it teaches them how to strategize. It teaches them how to take turns, teaches them how to win and lose gracefully."
Fourth grader Leo imagined his chess games as epic "Game of Thrones"-style battles.
"My wall is being breached!" he declared.
Leo knew nothing about chess before he enrolled in St. Mary's and joined Chess Wizards as a first grader. He said that the game has taught him how to think ahead and helps him with complicated word problems in math class.
"Chess is really important because it unlocks that magical superpower in our brains where we can think about the future and plan accordingly," said Chess Wizard Emaad Saad. (His job sometimes requires him to wear a wizard hat.)
Oct. 2 was his first day teaching at the school.
"They're really lively," he said of the students, "but it looks fun. It's going to be fun."
When Saad entered St. Mary's, he was immediately impressed by the facilities and how friendly the teachers were.
"The level of cleanliness and openness and welcoming here is kind of new," he said.
St. Mary's, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, educates 230 boys and girls from pre-K to eighth grade. Assistant Principal Maria Enrique said that in a school of that size, employing outside organizations like Chess Wizards and the VOICES Boston children's choir increases the opportunities available to students.
"Part of the Catholic education is very welcoming of everyone and all of their interests," Enrique told The Pilot. "And singing and playing chess is something that our families are very interested in, and so we like to make sure that there's options for families after school."
Principal Dr. Christine Nadjarian said that part of the reason why parents enroll their children in St. Mary's is because of the strength of its after-school clubs.
"As we celebrate our 125th anniversary, this is just a testament to the ongoing partnerships that we have fostered between the school and the community," she told The Pilot.