Whiz Kid: MRH Students Honored for Chess Performance at State

Whiz Kids' Name(s) and Ages: Mason Kramer, Aiden Reinhold, Freeman Reinhold and Gavin Vilcek

Whiz Kids' School/Church/Community Center:

Whiz Kids' Accomplishment: The students placed third in the state chess championship.

Whiz Kids' Key to Awesomeness: Mason, Aiden, Freeman and Gavin were among nearly 400 students who played chess Feb. 26 in Jefferson City as part of the 2011 Missouri Scholastic Team Championships, the Missouri Scholastic Chess website states.

Coach Ben Simon told Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch that Freeman, a fourth-grader, is the team's captain. Aiden and Gavin are in sixth grade, while Mason is in third grade. The team has been in existence since October 2006. This year, the team competed against students from both St. Louis and Kansas City.

"After the second of five rounds, I looked at the standings and saw we were in third place," Simon wrote in an email interview. "I told them, 'We might place today!' (we virtually couldn't win because Central Christian (Elementary School) had about 25 players stacked on its roster, compared to our four).  By the end of the fourth round, there was no way we wouldn't place!" The team has six or seven tournaments a year.

Other notes about these chess champs:

• Aiden recently became the second player in the history of the elementary school to defeat Simon in chess. "I believe he used his queen and knight to checkmate my king," Simon wrote.

• Gavin returned to MRH Elementary from spring break with a mind to play chess. "He showed such aggression with pawn movement and more, he almost beat me," Simon wrote. "Luckily for me, he made a slight miscalculation as to my chances in the endgame and I 'tricked' him into a draw.  Hopefully, he will play at the middle school next year and help jump-start that program."

• Mason "is learning quickly and his mother says chess may be his calling," Simon stated.

• As for Freeman? No one can beat him, Simon wrote. "I haven't seen one person in our club this year do it besides me.  He is the most decorated player in MRH history with one trophy and five medals."