Pasco: Play chess with this kid at your own risk

Play chess with this kid at your own risk

Alexander R. Katz, 6, has played for three years, and his trophy collection hints at many more in the limelight.

By MATTHEW WAITE, Times Staff Writer

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Alexander R. Katz had made just three moves. Already, it was clear he was toying with me. After six moves, he had my queen, and I slapped my forehead for the second time. After 10 moves, he smiled at me. In the chess equivalent of trash talk, he said:

"I could do you in four moves."

As the game went on, he began to feel sorry for me and let me take back a few ill-advised moves. When I made a good one, he laughed. "You're going to attack with that?" he giggled.

I lasted 26 moves.

Alexander's father, Michael, said I hadn't done too badly. More polished chess players had been beaten in fewer moves. He said I held my own.

Against a 6-year-old.

Alexander started playing chess at 3. By the time he was 5, people were telling Michael and Linne Katz that they needed to get Alexander into tournaments.

Now, Alexander's devotion to chess keeps him and his parents on the move.

Monday, Alexander goes to a chess club in Cheval, where he competes with adults.

Wednesday starts with two chess classes at the Museum of Science and Industry and then private lessons at home from a national master.

Thursday, another chess club.

Saturday, more tutoring.

Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays are off.

Sort of.

The Katzes say they can't keep Alexander away from their computer. Alexander is either picking a fight with a chess program or begging to go online and take on players who usually are up to 10 times his age.

"They freak out when they realize they're playing a 6-year-old," Michael Katz said.

Even bedtime isn't safe. Linne Katz reads to her three boys at night. The kids each get to pick the story to read on a given night.

Alexander picks World Class Chess Openings.

"Have you ever tried to read that as a bedtime story?" Linne Katz asked.

The Katzes say the chess thing doesn't come from them. They can't compete.

Alexander is already a champion chess player, with a horde of trophies to prove it. Nicholas, who is 4, is starting to get lessons and is pretty good in his own right. And Joshua, who is 3, can set up the board correctly but hasn't yet figured out how to move the pieces.

And it's not that the Katzes are running a chess factory. The boys, who are homeschooled, are still boys.

"(Alexander) thinks he's going to be the third baseman for the New York Mets," Michael Katz said.

Alexander's coach, Willard Taylor, said the boy just takes to chess.

"One thing Alex has always impressed us with is how much fun and enjoyment he has with it," Taylor said. "He just loves it."

Ed Cruz, the national master who teaches Alexander, said his student was the only one who could wear him out with his enthusiasm and thirst for the game.

"He's incredible," Cruz said.

In May, Alexander will test his mettle in a national competition in Nashville. He's already won statewide competitions against first-graders. At nationals, he could be playing kids at the third-grade level.

So what can stop him?

"When he meets girls," Taylor said, only half joking.

The more he learns, and the more he beats higher ranked and older chess players, the more Alexander's coaches believe he is something special.

"His challenges from now on will be from the elite in the nation," Taylor said. "That will be his only challenges."

-- Matthew Waite can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com .