Matt Stensland-Bos enjoys practicing on one of his seven chess sets. He loves the game so much, he took on the task of organizing a new tournament in Luverne.By Sara StrongAt 13, Matt Stensland-Bos has long surpassed most of his chess opponents — including his dad, Doug Bos.He traveled to four chess tournaments this year, and placed in all of them. Matt now wants the competition to become a part of what Rock County offers for sports competition. "I think the school focuses too much on contact sports, and we need more mental activity," Matt said. "Chess is a real sport too."In order to bring the competition closer to home, Matt decided to plan a local tournament, following all the rules and regulations of the ones he attends."I did it just because I like to play, and there aren’t many places to play," he said. Matt, also the son of Lynette Stensland-Bos, said there’s a lot to like about the game: the competition, the strategy, the intensity."It has nothing to do with life’s problems. You play chess and focus all your thinking and intellectual powers on the game," Matt said.The tournament is planned for Saturday, April 3, at an undetermined location, with trophy prizes in each age category.Matt hopes to get about 30 competitors.Checkmate Matt practices on his own as often and for as long as he can, up to four hours a day.That involves playing speed chess against himself, reading about game strategies or playing a computer chess game.It all started at home. Matt learned the game at age four by playing against his dad. "He beat me all the time, but my family doesn’t want to play with me anymore because they haven’t beat me since I was about six," Matt said.He has such a love for the game, that he even incorporated it into his 4-H activities. Matt created a beginner’s guide to chess that helps people learn the game.He also works with elementary students after school to help them learn the game he loves."I think I might have taught about 100 people. I teach them the moves first, then have them watch a game and then they play a game," Matt said.The upcoming tournament isn’t just for the well practiced. It is also for beginners or for people who want to start to learn. Matt hopes this might be the start of a local weekly chess club.Dan Nath will serve as the Luverene tournament director. Tournament sponsors are the Luverne Country Store, American Family Insurance, Cragoe Realty, Buffalo Ridge Insurance, Sears, Minnwest Bank, M&M Distributing and the Pizza Ranch.Registration for the tournament will start at 8 a.m. Call Matt at 283-4738 with questions. Registration forms are available at www.sdchess.org.
