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SANTA CLARITA - Olivia O'Hurley was born in Russia and came to the United States when she was adopted into an American family.
This past week, Olivia, 11, reconnected with her Russian roots at Jay Stallings' chess camp. Along with more than a dozen other students, Olivia learned that there's more to chess than just nifty moves.
Stallings taught about great players from the former Soviet Union, throwing in a history lesson about communism and why it broke down. On a giant board, Stallings showed the students a move-by-move account of the
legendary 1972 championship match between American Bobby Fischer and Russian Boris Spassky.
"It's kind of interesting because I wasn't born then, and it's interesting to know about what happened back then," Olivia said. "I think it was quite amazing and really quite neat."
Other students also got something out of Stallings' weeklong chess camp at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Santa Clarita. For Garrett Robinson, 9, it was a chance to learn chess.
"I learned a lot, how to do rook rollers and checkmate and when to move different pieces," Garrett
said.
Stallings, 40, started his chess club just days after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.
That first week, he expected parents to pull their students out of the lessons. But many kept their children in the class, wanting to distract them from the quake's aftermath.
In April, Stallings had to give up his permanent location on Tournament Road for his California Youth Chess League.
But he found two businesses - a hobby shop and a comic store - where he could give lessons, and he expected to find out soon which location he could use.
Stallings, who was a top-ranked chess player in his teens, got back into chess in his late 20s after staying away from the game for years. He quit a job selling computer printers to work with kids, first taking a job as a substitute teacher and then dedicating himself full time to his chess league.
"I was in the corporate world, traveling way too much and decided to get out of it," he said.
On Friday, Stallings was in his element as he demonstrated checkmate strategies to a group of advanced students at his chess camp.
As Stallings tucked
flat chess pieces into pockets on the upright chess board, running his students through the "Smith-Morra Gambit" and the "Sicilian Defense," he paused occasionally as other students brought chess workbooks for him to check.
"(Chess) teaches (children) the importance of patient study and the rewards of hard work," he said.
For Olivia, who came to the United States at age 7, one incentive to play chess is a board she has at home. Russian-made with distinctive figurines, the set was brought back from Russia when her adoptive grandmother visited the country.
"It reminds me a lot," she said, "of my home country."
alex.dobuzinskis@dailynews.com
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