Chess on the road

Cannon School's K-6 chess team has learned the game can be played anywhere - and is ideal for passing time.

While driving to compete in the chess Elementary Nationals, hosted by the U.S. Chess Federation in Nashville, the team hit a bit of traffic.

So what did they do with their time stuck on the interstate - they played chess of course. Teammates broke out boards and chess pieces and began to play what they call "blitz chess," or timed five-minute games, right on the asphalt of I-40.

Practice must have paid off because when the team finally made it to the competition, they placed sixth out of 49 teams from across the nation and first among North Carolina schools.

At the tournament, each of the following students played more than 20 hours of tournament chess during seven rounds, held over three days: Joshua Doolittle, a rising sixth grader from Huntersville; Grayson Herrera, a rising sixth grader from Harrisburg; Joseph Hurtado, a rising fifth grader from Concord; Dylan Kabasakalian, a rising third grader from Huntersville; Lucas Kabasakalian, a rising fifth grader from Huntersville; Owen Koehler, a rising third grader from Mooresville; Matthew Kroll, a rising third grader from Concord; Joshua Reid, a rising third grader from Concord; Mudiame Tokunboh, a rising sixth grader from Huntersville; and Rob Trufant, a rising fifth grader from Concord.

Lucas Kabasakalian placed 13th out of 292 players from around the country.

The team will continue to train and play over the summer at the Queen City Chess Association in uptown Charlotte.

Photo: Courtesy of David Long.

Junior makes perfect score on SAT

Every year, college hopefuls sharpen their math and reading skills in preparation for the SAT - an exam that will test their college readiness.

In fact, close to 2 million high school students completed the exam in 2011, according to College Board.

Of those test-takers, 384 aced the exam with a perfect score of 2400.

Josh Mu, 16, a junior at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, is one of the elite to make a perfect score.

“This is my third time taking it,” Josh said. “I was quite happy.”

In preparation for the exam, Josh said he enrolled in Kaplan courses and studied often. On test day, Josh said he wasn't nervous about the exam, but he was worried about being able to see the test - he had to have his eyes dilated at the doctor that morning.

Luckily, he said, it didn't harm his scores.

And while he excelled in all aspects of the exam, he said the math portion of the test came easiest to him.

“It always seems logical and there is always an answer,” Josh said.

His advice to future test-takers: “Relax and hope for the best.”

Aside from doing well in school, Josh also stands out in the chess community. In March, Josh took first place in the North Carolina Scholastic Chess Championship. He then advanced to the National level competition held in Minneapolis in mid-April, where he tied for 18th place.

Photo: Josh Mu (left) won the 2012 N.C. State Scholastic Championship in March. Photo courtesy of Joyce Mu.