Students making their move

Students make their move at Saratoga Springs chess tournament
By GERALDINE FREEDMAN
Correspondent
The Post-Star
Posted: Saturday, March 26, 2011 6:45 pm

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Vanessa D’Alonzo and Samantha Giknis were standing outside a room at the Dorothy Nolan Elementary School on Saturday morning where about 80 children were competing in the 11th annual Saratoga Springs School District Chess Tournament.

Giknis, one of the district’s chess club directors, and D’Alonzo were talking about D’Alonzo’s three children who were in the tournament: Jonathan, 8; JoVanna, 13; and Joseph, 17. Suddenly, Jonathan exited the room, his face all smiles.

“I won,” he said.

That’s nothing new, Vanessa said. Recently, at the state chess tournament held in Saratoga Springs, Jonathan won four of his six matches. What makes his achievement all the more impressive is that he’s self-taught.

When he was 5, his aunt showed him some basics – enough to catch his interest, she said.

Intrigued, Jonathan turned to another source.

“It was free on the computer,” Jonathan said. “The computer taught me.”

He discovered that he liked that he had to think a lot about what moves to make and began to study the games of the grand masters, he said. And at the chess club at the Division Street School, which he attends, he made friends.

Although he also enjoys soccer and is a black belt in tae kwon do, chess is his favorite game, Jonathan said.

“I practice a lot,” he said, adding that he also was good at math.

Full article here.