by Mike Ferguson, courtesy of the Billings Gazette, originally published November 25, 2013.
Baylie Redman has been playing chess for only a year, but what a year it’s been. Over the summer, Redman, 16, a junior at Billings Central Catholic High School, became the first female Montanan to play in an internationally rated chess tournament, the Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls in St. Louis.
That tournament invites a girl from each state to compete, plus players from South America as well. Redman managed just one victory in six matches, but as one of her chess teachers, Dr. Charlie Wittnam, pointed out, she was up “against the very best in the country. They play serious chess with a capital ‘S.’”
Because she made history as Montana’s first female representative at the invitational tournament, Redman received special recognition during an awards ceremony at the end of the six-day tournament.
Redman credits her rapid development with “having enough room to grow” and with putting in practice time and studying strategy videos posted on YouTube.
Seated on a stool in the biology lab of the school’s chess team adviser, Dr. Debora Wines, Redman said last week that the cerebral game born in India about 15 centuries ago has taught her focus, patience and thinking ahead — “qualities that people need to do well in life.”
She said playing chess has also helped her better cope with her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“Chess helps keep it under control,” she said. “Those good qualities chess teaches — most of them are difficult for kids with ADHD.”
Since she took up the game, she’s also noticed a benefit probably of interest to her parents, Darryl and Melanie Redman, as well as the family’s automobile insurance provider — her driving has improved.
“My brain now processes things faster, so it’s easier to notice things as I drive,” she said. “I can also concentrate in class better. My thoughts tend to be scattered, but since I started chess, it is better.”
Wines, who like Wittnam has played chess most of her life, said Redman is the kind of player “who’s just good naturally. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to work at it — it just means your work pays off.”
The two played a friendly match in the biology lab after school one day last week, with the teacher schooling the pupil — although technically the match ended in a draw, since Wines set a short time limit on the contest.
Wittnam, an internist at the Billings Clinic and the vice president of the Montana Chess Association, with a focus on Eastern Montana, said Redman has natural drive and “a good eye for tactical positions,” but “she is still a beginner and she still has a lot of technical flaws to correct.”
She’s benefited, he said, from the best coaching that Billings can provide, which includes Mo Bain, one of the top players in the state and the reigning state chess co-champion. With the game’s emphasis on logical thinking, Wittnam said keeping up with his game has benefitted his medical practice. He’s a proponent of a European-style chess program, where elementary-aged students are introduced to the game.
Chess is a game with nearly infinite permutations, he said: in a typical 35-move match, the combination of possible legal moves exceeds the number of atoms in the observable universe, Wittnam said — estimated to be 1 followed by 81 zeroes.
Redman’s potential could be fairly limitless as well.
“If you’re not careful, she will hand you your head very quickly,” Wittnam said of Redman’s aggressive style of play. “It’s rare to find a young woman who plays that way. I think she will get better. She has the possibility of being a strong player.”
For her part, Redman hopes to play one day at the collegiate level, perhaps at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, where she knows a faculty member.
She said she prays before each competitive match — but not necessarily for victory. “I pray for clarity of mind and clarity of heart,” she said. “I ask God if it is his will for a win. And if it’s not, that’s a lesson I can learn.”
Follow-up information: In a recent exchange of e-mails, Spanish journalist Leontxo Garcia shared the following insights on chess and ADHD.
Dr. Hilario Blasco is a young prominent Spanish psychiatrist who is applying chess as a therapy to some of his ADHD patients for years already with a clear success. Besides on that, he made a serious study, fully supported and certified by the Puerta de Hierro hospital (Madrid) with a group of young ADHD people. His conclusions are very impressive: in light and moderate cases, chess can replace drugs; in more serious cases, chess can substantially reduce the dose. By the way, that [corresponds] very well with what several ADHD parents told me in different countries (of course, they do not know each other): "The only way for my son (or daughter) to [stay] concentrated for one hour or more is when he (or she) is playing chess".
