The Pell City Chess Story

Pell City Chess is a story of community, friendship, and growth. In 2011, I attended my first chess club meeting at Lamar Middle School while I was living in Missouri. I remember picking up the rules quite quickly and winning the first match I played. I didn't really take up chess until the summer of 2013 where I met my chess teacher, Mr. Ciamarra at the Homewood library. Mr. Ciamarra was a strong player and an even stronger chess advocate. He was frequently teaching private lessons, coaching after-school programs, and writing articles for chess on AL.com.

Mr. Ciamarra's training regimen was unconventional, he valued practice over play which is a concept that is still frowned upon in today's chess world. Our lessons normally consisted of us playing a practice match and him blowing me off the board. He would then proceed to explain how and why I lost the match. He taught me that chess was not a struggle against your opponent as much as it was a struggle against yourself to find the best moves and that every loss was a lesson. I lost 63 games over 4 years to Mr. Ciamarra and learned lots of lessons. He not only taught me the technical aspects of chess like endgames and tactics, but the artistic form of finding a way to win from a losing or less than ideal position. His teaching led to me becoming a stronger player and seeing chess not just as a game, but a discipline that would help me master myself.

This led to my time in Pell City High School where I found myself bringing a chess board to school to study the game in my spare time. I would often study in the lunch room as I was not a very social person. One day a boy, named Jacob who was a year younger than me, sat at the table and challenged me to a match. That would spark us sitting together every day at lunch and playing chess. Over the next few months, more and more people would come sit with us to play chess. Some would come to stay and would become the core of our very first Pell City Chess Club.

We began meeting after school to challenge each other and go over tactics and strategy. We even attended one beginner's tournament as a team and placed several individuals. You can see our team in the pictures listed below:

Our first Pell City Chess Team studying a game played at the tournament

In their first ever Tournament Pell City Chess Students placed 2nd, 4th, and 5th

The tournaments were very fun, but our most fun moments were in the lunchroom or classroom playing chess freely. The comradery combined with friendly competition and trash talk created a good learning environment and one that we could all enjoy. We developed both solid and experimental play with our chess. One of my biggest regrets is not notating and keeping more of the chess games we played in that time period so I could have them as they were very wild but educational nonetheless. We all experienced personal growth due to the game of chess in other areas of our lives due to universal principles such as problem solving, learning to lose/fail, and practicing good study habits. Several of us still meet occasionally to this day to play chess either online or over the board when we find the chance.

Tragically, my friend Jacob passed away from a traumatic accident just days before he was to enlist in the military. It was a heart-breaking experience, especially for his family which several of us were close with. Jacob was the heartbeat of Pell City Chess. He brought in interests, teacher-sponsors to let us hold club meetings in their classroom, and passion for the game. Despite the fact that he was probably only rated 1500-1600 he was also a great teacher of the game to newcomers. To this day, Jacob's attitude has inspired me to continue teaching chess in Pell City and working to establish an official club and local tournaments.

We've had great success with our high school club students, some of which have gone on to play in their own tournaments and competitions.

3 PCHS Students who placed in a tournament at Pike Elementary in Montgomery in 2023

We've also hosted several tournaments in the local High School and Middle School. We're a firm believer that chess should not only help students in their chess interests, but in other interests as well. The principles that are in chess can be applied to almost any subject or extra curricular activity. We believe that chess can increase a school's excellence in all areas and help students improve over a lifetime. Chess is also an inclusive game, you can play it blind, you can play it with no hands or feet, and you can even play it without a board and pieces. Chess is something that can connect people across the globe or connect people that sit next to each other. We envision chess in Pell City Schools growing in the coming years and being a spotlight for bringing people together and helping them approve across all areas of study they choose to pursue.

However, Pell City Chess also compromises of young and old, home-schooled students and public school students, and boys and girls. Anyone can play chess and we hope to continue to touch lives and support our community with the game of chess. Pell City Chess has a vision to connect generations, grow together, and build a community around learning to succeed through the game of chess. We hope that every student who decides to study chess in our club will grow personally thanks to their exposure to the game of chess.