Students compete at San Benito

CHECKMATES: Students compete at San Benito tournament
By AMANDA HARRIS/VALLEY MORNING STAR

August 5, 2007 – 2:16AMSAN BENITO — Chess players sat in silence at the San Benito Community Building Saturday as they stared at their chessboards, waiting to make their next move.

Players of all ages competed in the second annual San Benito Chess Championship, tournament director Edward Guetzow said.

“In chess, it doesn’t matter what your age is or your physical ability is,” Guetzow said. “All that matters is if you can outthink your opponent. It’s a very creative process. It’s very challenging. It challenges your analytical, spatial and logical skills.”

One of the competitors was Domingo Santoyo, a 10th-grader who attends school at Rivera High School in Brownsville, who said he has practiced somewhat during his free time during the summer.

“I enjoy it,” Santoyo said. “It’s a lifestyle.”

Santoyo began playing chess more than three years ago, and his younger brothers have since started playing, too. Santoyo was born without arms, so the set-up for his games are somewhat different from the way other players sit and play, his mother, Astrid Santoyo, said.

Unlike his opponents who play with their hands, Santoyo plays with his feet. His mother said he’s independent and wants to conquer everyday tasks and hobbies that others may assume he would not be able to do.

“I like everything about chess,” Domingo Santoyo said. “Since I can’t play any other sport, it’s special to play chess for me.”

During a round, Santoyo will either sit on a chair and his opponent will sit on a mat on the floor, Astrid Santoyo said.

If his opponent doesn’t want to sit on a mat on the floor, Domingo Santoyo has to sit on the table to move his chess pieces, she said. After the fourth round, Domingo Santoyo had won three games and lost one, he said as he went into the fifth round.

He placed seventh in the rated section. Parents and family members waited patiently for the participants to complete each game during the five rounds.

Guetzow is a chess coach for students at Ed Downs Elementary School in San Benito, and said players came to play from as far away as Corpus Christi and Matamoros.

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