Winning all five sections they entered, the Oak Hall Chess Club brought home more trophies to display from last year’s Florida State Scholastic Tournament.  

Oak Hall Coach Tim Tusing said it was the first time in tournament history that a school swept all its sections. This weekend, Oak Hall will place its players in six sections for the state tournament, and Tusing tells his players the goal is to win each one. 

“I know we will win the three state championships,” Tusing said. “We will win those. That’s a guarantee.” 

As far as the three open sections, available for anyone below a certain rating, Tusing said it’ll be a close call. He has fewer students to place in those categories who fit the rating criteria.  

To fill the gaps, Tusing has kindergarteners and first graders facing fourth and fifth graders. Still, he says it’s a toss-up if the students can bring home these sections as well. 

The Oak Hall Eagles have soared high in state and national chess competitions. In December, the teams won three national titles—pushing the school’s total to 24 national championships. 

The club includes kindergarten through fifth grade, with some junior kindergarteners also joining. The players practice for two and a half hours after school. Even at home, the kids spar in nightly online tournaments.  

Tusing said the team’s reputation has started giving players a psychological edge. Opponents will see a student in an Oak Hall t-shirt sit across from them and begin to break down, Tusing said. 

“You’ve already got your game won,” Tusing said. “We’re like the New York Yankees: Everybody hates us.” 

Tusing credits the depth of talent as a reason for success. In one category of the national tournament in December, Tusing notes that the individual score for all the players sat at 4 out of 5 except for the top two students who were undefeated.  

To get a team score, the tournament officials add the individual scores of the top three performers. For Oak Hall, that means the two undefeated students but then everyone is tied for the third spot. Other teams might have strong individual scorers but lack the same depth, Tusing said. 

Oak Hall begins teaching chess once a week in junior kindergarten—just like music or art class. Tusing said he keeps track of the students who grasp the concepts and encourages them to join the chess club the next year.  

The club has a mix of talent and determination. Some players are more casual and split time with the track team or another extracurricular. Other players focus solely on chess. 

The differences can be seen after a few years. Students who joined together in kindergarten can have wide gaps in skill level by fourth grade.  

Sophia Li, a fourth grader, recently earned her spot as the Under 10 Girl Champion in the United States. She has competed in 170 tournaments—both will Oak Hall and many on her own. 

While practicing before the state tournament, she battles the Moguillansky brothers at the same time. Tusing laughs at the prospect, and he offers a trophy if either brother can defeat Li. Neither of them win.  

As they play the game, Lee says beating her opponents keeps her returning to the board. One brother says he enjoys the chess tournaments while the other says he could do without the tournaments.  

Li says her goal is to reach a 2000 rating by the end of 2024. She’s in the 1800s right now. Another Oak Hall player, Akash Jani, is also close to hitting a 2000 rating—considered by some the barrier between an advanced and expert player. 

At tournaments, categories are assigned by a player’s rating number that shows their approximate strength. Win more games and you earn a higher rating. Lose games and, depending on the strength of your opponent, you’ll lose a certain amount of rating.  

The strongest grandmasters in the world have ratings in the 2600-2800 level. Beginners have a rating of around 400-600. Depending on the source, reaching a 2000 tournament rating would put Li and Jani among the top 5% of tournament players in the world. 

The Moguillansky brothers both sit below 1000 for rating, explaining the expectation of victory for Li.  

After teaching how the pieces move, Tusing said he doesn’t start with chess opening. Instead, he drills down on how to checkmate from smothered mates to back rank checkmates. Then, he said it’s all tactics. 

Besides tactics, Tusing said students need a drive to play. The games can last three hours or longer, so when a student returns after less than 30 minutes, he asks how hard they tried. At the back of the chess room at Oak Hall, Tusing has a framed picture called “Last Man Standing.”  

It shows a tournament hall with hundreds of chess boards set up and only two players left fighting. Tusing said that’s the goal to fight till the end. When everyone else has finished their games and left, you keep battling for a win. And if you lose after three hours, then you really did give it your best effort.  

Tusing walks around the tables as players shuffle pieces.  

“A bad plan is better than no plan,” he tells one player in the middle of a game.  

He’s filled with stories about his player’s past successes and points out the students who’ve appeared on the cover of Florida Chess magazine. The club tries to attend one tournament a month, and Tusing is confident the club will have more victory stories to tell after the state tournament this weekend.