Checkmate in the Clubhouse

The players in their late teens and early 20s in the Columbia Fireflies clubhouse spend most of their days and nights occupied with what’s happening on the baseball diamond.

Sure, they have the game itself, which is typically a 2.5-hour affair at Segra Park or another Carolina League yard. The players are also taking batting practice each day, stretching and lifting, attending meetings scouting the opposing team and some are taking early work to learn to field the ball better and to play different positions. Whether it is at the plate, on the mound or with a mitt on, most of the day is spent perfecting different parts of the game that each person is playing. Simply put, the 30 men on the roster are constantly churning away about baseball, trying to figure out how to climb the ladder to the show.

Certainly, they have to take some time to themselves to focus on something other than baseball. Some escape through music, others through food and more through video games or conversing with friends or life partners. There’s one activity that has taken the team by storm in recent weeks though. This one, rather than involving one diamond, has 64 squares involved.

Sure, it’s more complicated than that. See, there’s a king and a queen and they have a pair of knights and bishops that help protect them. On top of that, there are some rooks and eight pawns. Yes, there is a chess club making its way through the Columbia Fireflies clubhouse.

Chess has been increasing in popularity the last few years. A 2020 Bloomberg article by Rachael Dottle titled ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Chess Boom Moves Online detailed that Chess.com has added millions of accounts since the release of the popular Netlflix series. What’s more is that toy manufacturer Goliath Games noted that sales of chess sets are up over 1100% since the show came out two years ago.

The group in the clubhouse hasn’t been strongly swayed by The Queen’s Gambit though. You have some players, glancing at the board for the first time, like Isaiah Henry, then others who have been playing for most of their lives.

“I think I started to pick it up back in elementary school. If I had some free time, I would play on the computer,” Catcher Carter Jensen remembers. “I never played super seriously, but every once in a while if there were no sports to play or if I was bored, I’d hop online and play against the computer.”

The excitement at Segra Park all started off on the whim of Fireflies Clubhouse Manager Christian Andreas. Near the start of the season, the Colorado native was trying to stock the clubhouse with some fun things for the players to kill some down time with on rainy days or between workouts. He saw the chess boards at a store and thought it was a good idea to try, so he bought a set.

The first pair to battle were Jensen and River Town. Jensen was able to take home the victory and even went on a little run throughout the clubhouse, establishing the persona of being “the player to beat.”

Columbia’s back stop was able to take out Town, Jack Aldrich and Isaiah Henry among others in the clubhouse during his run. A lot of people refer to baseball as a thinking man’s game, and chess is certainly built around mental strategy, so It’s been a good fit for the clubhouse so far.

“It may sound crazy, but it’s pretty similar if you think about it. The amount of strategy that comes with catching is very similar to the strategy you use with chess,” Jensen relates. “I like to use a defensive strategy to start, but then after I get a feel for my opponent, I decide whether to continue to play defensively or to take charge and attack.”

After a bit, another player emerged from the clubhouse to shock Jensen and take over the crown of “best chess player on the Fireflies.” Reliever Shane Connolly was able to checkmate Jensen and a few other players in five moves or less using an opening that certainly isn’t the norm for novice players.

He starts simply enough, moving the king’s pawn to E4, which is the most common opener in chess. After that, he switches things around though, utilizing the bishop’s opening. First, he kicks the bishop out to C4 and the queen to G4.

“Don’t tell anyone, (sorry, Shane) but if everything goes right, you can win in four moves,” Connolly teaches. “The opening is good because even if the opponent counters well, it opens up the board and develops a couple of good pieces well, so it puts you in a good position.”

2015 was the year Connolly really got into chess. He started off after randomly finding a video on YouTube’s recommended page.

“I started watching and got hooked. Then I started playing on Chess.com and eventually my roommate in college and I got a board and started playing every night,” Connolly explains.

Connolly has been able to beat out Samuel Valerio and Noah Cameron too, but gives credit to Cameron, saying he has come the closest to matching him.

As with all competitive things, Connolly’s run will likely end at some point this season, and there will be a new “king” of chess in the Fireflies club house. Until then though, we’ll try our best not to give away any more secrets. We may not have broken the first rule of chess club, but this story was too good not to share.