JOIN THE CLUB: Check out chess
C.J. Ares plays a game of chess with a friend at the Boys and Girls Club of Llano. C.J. teaches the ins and outs of the game to anyone who's interested. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
Llano Junior High School sixth-grader C.J. Ares founded the Llano Chess Club, started a chess program at the Boys and Girls Club of Llano, and brought the first-ever certified U.S. Chess Federation tournament to the rural reaches of the Texas Hill Country.
“I didn’t really take chess seriously until I was 5,” said the now-11-year-old. “I learned the moves and stuff at 3, but 5 is when I really focused on it.”
When he was 10 and in the fifth grade, C.J. joined the school’s chess club.
”The teacher said she didn’t know how to play chess,” he said. “So I started my own (club).”
With five tournament-quality chess sets, he began hosting casual gameplay at First Presbyterian Church of Llano and introduced local kids to the game.
C.J. grew up in a chess-playing family. Mom Joleigh has been one of his longtime opponents and a staunch advocate of his pursuit of the game. She supported him when he formed the chess club and helped facilitate the USCF tournament in November 2023 that drew over 60 players from across the state to little Llano. This type of tournament is typically held in the “big city,” and playing in one contributes to a competitor’s national ranking.
“I’m happy with the club, but I’m trying to start more tournaments,” C.J. explained. “There’s a lot of people in Llano who play chess, but they’re not interested in just playing around. But, if they see a tournament, they’ll come out.”
Brad Ballard, a Llano resident and former formidably ranked chess player, teamed up with C.J. to help teach chess to newbies.
“You have to have some degree of intelligence to process information, but you can play chess and enjoy it on many levels,” Ballard told The Picayune during one of his teaching sessions at the Boys and Girls Club.
At one time, Ballard was ranked in the top 20th percentile of players in the country. Now, he helps kids learn and hone their skills.
“Chess may not be for everyone, but it gives kids that aren’t playing football or volleyball or basketball or running track a chance to excel at something,” he said. “It doesn’t make a difference how tall you are, how fast you are, or how big you are.”
He also mentioned the potential cognitive benefits of chess, which research suggests improves problem-solving skills and math comprehension in children.
This reporter experienced the cognitive capabilities of a young chess player firsthand in two different matches against C.J.
Our first game was at Fuel Coffee House in Llano, where C.J. explained the nuance of chess strategies such as “pinning” and “forking.” These are basic maneuvers that most serious players know and use to devastating effect. I knew I was in trouble four minutes into our 22-minute match.
“Did you know that there are more possible moves in a game of chess than there are grains of sand on Earth?” C.J. asked while sipping on hot cocoa during the game.
That is true, according to American mathematician Claude Shannon, who calculated that there are 10 to the 120th power possible move combinations in an average game of chess and only an estimated 10 to the 21st power grains of sand on Earth.
Concentration back on the board, I mounted a valiant defense accompanied by a few minor offensive sparks before C.J. set an inescapable trap and took the victory.
Our second game was at the Boys and Girls Club, where defeat came even more quickly. We played by tournament rules, with each player allotted a total of five minutes of play time. Again, C.J. showcased his deep understanding of the game and took a swift victory.
A quote from Ballard stood out in the aftermath of those two losses.
“It’s purely just you and your opponent and pure intellect,” he said. “There’s no roll of the dice or turn of the card. When you lose, you don’t have anyone else to blame. The sun wasn’t in your eyes, the wind wasn’t blowing too hard. It’s kind of neat from that standpoint.”
CHESS CLUBS
For those interested in learning how to play, improving their skills, or competing on just about any level, find a Highland Lakes chess club below. The listed groups are all free to join and open to the public.
Llano Chess Club
MEETS: 4:30-5:30 p.m. Sundays
WHERE: First Presbyterian Church, 1306 Ford St. in Llano
Marble Falls Chess Club
MEETS: 4 p.m. Mondays
WHERE: Marble Falls Public Library, 101 Main St.
Burnet Chess Club
MEETS: 4 p.m. Mondays
WHERE: Herman Brown Free Library, 100 E. Washington St. in Burnet
Join the Club is a new feature in The Picayune Magazine that will be exploring the many different club opportunities in the Highland Lakes. Let us know about your club by emailing editor@thepicayune.com.