After Mid Valley chess club teammates protected their kings, it was time for some Queen.
“We are the champions, my friends,
And we'll keep on fighting till the end,
We are the champions,
We are the champions,
No time for losers,'
Cause we are the champions of the world.”
“I did not expect to be here. It's just... crazy,” said Raymond Chen, a member of Mid Valley’s team, as "We are the Champions" played in the background.
Chen and his teammates won the recent Lackawanna Chess League Championship over Scranton Prep. They’re also part of a growing number of people playing chess.
An early version of the Lackawanna Chess League started during the pandemic. Four high schools played against each other last year, and this year, eight teams – West Scranton Scranton, Abington Heights, Lackawanna Trail, Lakeland, Old Forge, Mid Valley and Scranton Prep – competed.
Playing virtually eliminates travel costs for the schools. Students play through chess.com, an online site with 165 million members. During the early part of the pandemic, lockdowns and the popularity of the Netflix show “The Queen's Gambit” helped fuel the popularity. Schools report the number of students interested in chess continues to rise, and chess.com membership continues to grow.
Bruce Wisenburn, a Marywood University professor, helped organize the Lackawanna league. He’s also the adviser of Marywood’s chess club, which is open to the public.
“I think it's a fruitful way to really sharpen the mind and also to interact with others and really have a great time,” Wisenburn said. “I think chess is just a wonderful game. And there's a good reason why it's lasted for hundreds of years.”
While the Lackawanna League is new, students have played chess at Pocono Mountain East for about 30 years. School counselor Larry Bias has coached the team since 1997. The team, which has received state and national honors over the years, practices after school three to four days a week and then uses chess.com from home.
“Our players work, you know, tons of hours, numerous hours to win and put themselves in a position to be where they are,” Bias said. “And then we want to make sure they're being recognized as team members and putting forth just as much effort as a football team, basketball team or any other team out there.”
Back at Mid Valley, teammates celebrated their first league title. Sophomore Alexander Schuler learned how to play chess in fourth grade. He first beat classmates on the playground, and now, students from other schools.
“It's great to just win, especially like that. We went the entire season undefeated,” he said. “It's pretty cool.”
Marywood University will host the Pennsylvania State Amateur Championship on April 20 and 21. The school’s club, which meets twice a week, is open to both students and community members. To learn more about Marywood’s chess club, send an email to chessclub@m.marywood.edu.
