United States chess champion and grandmaster Larry “the Attacker” Christensen simultaneously defeated four teams of BU Academy students yesterday — blindfolded.
Christensen, the new advisor to the BU Academy chess club, entered the room calmly and sat with his back to the board.
His strategy, he said, was to memorize the chess board’s grid much like someone would study a geography map.
“I’m not a mathematician,” Christensen said. “I just have a great memory and experience.”
Christensen, who has taught chess at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Rhode Island College, is the current United States Champion and has played many games internationally. He is also the author of the chess book “Storming the Barricade.”
Prior to their matches with Christensen, students prepared by sparring with one another. There was tension and excitement in the air. Freshman Amrit Gupta, ranked in the low hundreds in Massachusetts, assisted the grandmaster in calling the moves. Amrit gave up the opportunity to play the new coach.
The matches began slowly, but Christensen soon lived up to his nickname. As he attacked, pieces were plucked from the board.
At board number one sat Bruce Johse and Aaron Berstein — the first to lose against the grandmaster. He checkmated the pair with his queen.
Alex Teixeira and Aron Schein collaborated on board number two. Resigning, they were the last to succumb to Christensen’s onslaught.
“It’s a feeling of pending doom,” Schein whispered during the game.
Despite being checked more than six times, Teresa Shirkova and Adam Kran battled on board number three. But Christensen cornered them into resignation.
Shirkova was the only female player, but, she said it didn’t bother her that her teammates were males.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” she said. “It is all about strategy.”
Jon Ling, Stephen Cellucci and Andy Armini tackled board number four. After a 50-minute pitched battle, they, too, resigned.
Andrea Benjamin, an Academy freshman, stood by, wishing she had entered the game.
“What a challenge,” she said. “He’ll be a great teacher.”
In the end, students said they were grateful for the experience and said they could not wait for the next meeting.
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