Roberts Vaux Middle School has a long history of chess prowess. Salome Thomas-EL, the current coach of the team, revisits many of the personal challenges that he had to face in coaching at Philadelphia's Vaux in his book, "I Choose to Stay." Thomas-EL decided to reinvigorate the program and bring back the luster it once enjoyed. Perhaps one has to go back a bit to understand the storied history of Vaux and the chess legacy left behind. Back in the glory days, Vaux was coached by math teacher  Jeffery Chesin and Vaux won an unprecedented eight National Junior High School championships (seven consecutive, 1977-1983). The school has produced many strong players, but alumnus  NM Howard Daniels is probably the strongest to ever graduate from the program.

Plotting moves, the "Bad Bishops" are closely watched by their coach, Jeffrey Chesin (at end of table). Kevin Giles and Michael Allen  play a game of blitz (center). At this point, Vaux had won five consecutive national titles. Photo courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company.

In 1981--The "Bad Bishops" and the  "Mighty Pawns"

Daniels, who still lives in the Philadelphia area but is no longer active, has the distinction of becoming the youngest Black master in U.S. history at 15 years, 4 months. In those days,  Coach Chesin had instituted a health regiment for his players. Two weeks before a competition, he barred his "Bad Bishops" from consuming junk foods, sodas and other types of empty calories. In addition, there was a conditioning program with push-ups, and jogging. The top players at Vaux (called Vaux Junior High in 1981) were Kevin Jiles (1942 USCF) and Michael Allen (1817 USCF), both 15-years old at the time. Jiles, was said to have had a swagger and often played with his collar upturned or with a toothpick in his mouth. For a brief period in 1997, Jiles  returned to serve as  an Assistant Coach at  Vaux under Thomas-EL.

The Vaux powerhouse was buoyed by a "farm system" from Douglass Elementary School, a program run by Stephen Shutt (now at Masterman). This amounted to a system where players came into the Vaux program ready to play having already accumulated substantial scholastic experience.  Shutt's "Mighty Pawns" also had a regiment of  study which included opening theory and basic chess strategy. Many players had developed the discipline to study for two hours daily.  It was noted that mastery of chess had helped students gained social skills, discipline and an increase in mental agility.

The Vaux team is now known as "The Mighty Bishops," apparently a merging of the two old names, and to de-emphasize the word "bad." Back in 1997, Vaux developed a website touting their various accomplishments and also featured Demetrius Carroll, a top Vaux player once featured in the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine (22 February 1998).  It appears as if Vaux (under the helm of Salome Thomas-EL) will regain the magic that made them a media sensation 20 years ago. You can contact Thomas-El at info@ichoosetostay.com.

Other Sources:

"The Bad Bishops: Philadelphia Teen-agers win Fifth Straight Chess Title," Ebony, October 1981, 103-106.

Roberts Vaux Chess Team website (1997-98)

The Chess Drum, "Former Vaux Students Making the Grade,"  22 July 2003.

The Chess Drum, "Book on Chess Triumph has "Staying Power," 14 June 2003.

The Chess Drum, "I Choose to Stay" now available at bookstores!!"  (7 March 2003)

The Chess Drum, "Chess Coach unveils book about chess triumph at Philly's Vaux!" (26 January 2003)

The Chess Drum, "A Principled Chess Coach says, "I Choose to Stay" (27 February 2002).