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.
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