The team from Bell Oaks is usually first or second in the state. This time, the competition looked daunting. The elementary school chess team from Bellmawr doesn't have a lot of flash.
Some kids carry their chess pieces in plastic grocery bags.
Many don't have their own game clocks. They practice once a week after school. None of them has a private chess teacher, unless you count an older brother. Most of their parents don't play at all. But they do have a coach, Dennis Jones, who loves the game and loves teaching them, and they have racked up a pretty impressive record over the last seven years, often taking first or second in the state.