SPANISH FORT — Students in the chess club at Spanish Fort High School (SFHS) won the 2024-2025 Mobile/Baldwin Scholastic Chess League Championship making it the first public school to win since 2008.

Designated team leader and chess club president, Kevin Judice, said this was the first year of having a "consistent team" competing on behalf of the school's chess club as last year had a "very inconsistent team" and in his first year in the club they only played in one tournament because chess club had just been started by student Price Baell.

Judice explained that, in order to win the championship, the team had to compete at four tournaments in their first semester.

"You play two different schools, and there's 30 minutes for each person on the clock," Judice said, "and we beat every single school, so we won, but we tied (when we played against) Bayside (Academy)."

Judice is currently a junior in high school, and he has been a part of chess club since his freshman year. Other students on the team are Ethan Spuler, who's a senior, Kurusharan Kumaresan, who's a sophomore, and Heinz Williams, who is also a senior. Most of the boys joined after being asked by Judice.

According to a post on Baldwin County Public Schools Instagram, in addition to the overall championship title, Judice was awarded "the prestigious Morphy Award," which goes to the top player in the league, and Kumaresan was named "to the All-Star team," which includes the league's top five players.

"I definitely didn't expect it from our first year playing," Spuler said when asked his thoughts on the championship.

Judice said he was "just happy Bayside didn't win" because they have consistently won "16 of the last 20 years."

Williams said schools like Bayside, "actually have test coaches that coach them and analyze their games for them and tell them stuff and it's pretty cool that we just have Kevin. … I knew with Kevin we would win."

Spuler started playing chess last year after Judice asked him to join "pretty much every day" in ACT prep. Judice first learned to play when he was 6 years old but took a break and "didn't play forever" until COVID-19 when he "just got obsessed over it."

Kumaresan has been playing for about two years now and has been "in a lot of Mobile and Pensacola tournaments." Williams learned to play as a kid but never "really played seriously" until last year with this year being his first competition year.

Kumaresan said the other competitions are "a lot tougher, definitely" as a larger age range is allowed to play.

"There can be a lot of old people, really young people," Kumaresan said. "I got destroyed by a really young kid."

Judice chimed in to say it was the "fifth highest graded 7-year-old in the US" that beat Kumaresan. Both boys have played in other competitions outside of school-oriented ones.

Williams said the final championship in Mobile was not intense as the SFHS team had won every tournament prior so "there was like one scenario" where the team would have lost which was "very unlikely." He said that made the tournament "kind of relaxing."

To train for competitions, the team plays each other on chess.com where Judice can offer advice and training after he evaluates and strategizes using the skills of his team. While there are only a total of four members of the varsity team, there are 41 students signed up for chess club on chess.com.

Students who want to participate in chess club visit Jenna Griggers', chess club teacher chauffeur, classroom during lunch to compete with other students on chess.com or play on boards. Kumaresan said if he sees a student playing chess outside of the club, he encourages them to join.

As the school year is already halfway through, most students have already found themselves in clubs, so chess club hasn't been actively getting new members this semester.

MICAH GREEN / GULF COAST MEDIA Kevin Judice, Heinz Williams, Kurusharan Kumaresan, Ethan Spuler.

"Before this, I guess, chess season started, I wasn't super confident we could win as a team," Judice said. "I was like, 'oh Bayside might be good,' but I definitely knew we were one of the best. And then, after the first tournament or two, I was like, 'yeah, we can definitely win.'"

Official "chess season" only lasts the first semester of school because that's when there is "a tournament every month" for schools.

Williams said SFHS hosted an inaugural tournament this year with the help of Griggers who "organized everything." Griggers said if SFHS were to host another tournament it would "probably need to have two locations" dividing the age groups of Elementary and Middle/High School students as the SFHS cafeteria was "packed" with chess clubs from Mobile and Baldwin County.

Griggers said chess is not her strong suit but as she has been working with the club, she has improved her skills and knowledge of the game.

"It is funny," Griggers said on her chess expertise. "All the other coaches, like, when they're there (at competitions) taking notes on the kids and I'm like, 'so did you win?'"

All the same, Griggers said she is very proud of the SFHS varsity chess team for their win at the recent championship as the first public school since 2008, which was "crazy" for her to think about because that was the year she graduated from high school.

Spuler said he plans to "retire a champion" as he doesn't plan on attending any more chess competitions. Williams said he is "definitely going to play chess for fun in the future" as he still enjoys the game, but he also won't likely play competitively. However, he does have high expectations for the club after he has graduated this year.

"I hope the chess club continues to be as big as it is and have that big presence," Williams said. "I hope our varsity team continues to win championships."

"I hope KK (Kumaresan) continues the legacy," Spuler said as he also will be graduating this year and Kumaresan is the youngest on the team. "We're going to build a dynasty."

Judice and Kumaresan don't plan to play competitively after high school but while they are still enrolled, they plan to remain a part of the chess club and compete locally. Judice said he was recognized by a fan recently at his job as a busboy, how can you give up that fame?

An upcoming competition Judice and Kumaresan are looking at is the High School State Championship in March. Unfortunately, the whole team likely won't be able to go as Spuler and Williams are in soccer, which has practices and games on the weekends this season.

Judice said there's also a requirement for attendees to be a part of the United States Chess Federation (USCF), "which is like $70," and Spuler and Williams do not have memberships like the other boys.

Judice said he doesn't see a point in "USCF memberships, just for them playing in one tournament."

Members of USCF receive Elo ratings, named for its creator Arpad Elo, based on their skill level in chess. Kumaresan said he is currently at a rating of 1088 and Judice said he is currently at a rating of 1819.

Judice said the scale is "infinite" and according to a forum on chess.com the average USCF member holds a 1500 score. Judice said the highest rated player that he knows of has a "2800-30 something" score.

While none of the students plan to play chess competitively after high school, their team has made a mark on the SFHS chess team history with their win at the 2024-2025 Mobile/Baldwin Scholastic Chess League Championship.