A Chess Club. “Why not at LCA?” asked Luca Angelino Sacks ‘28. The idea didn’t start with a strategic master plan. It started with a story.
Robert Katende, a Ugandan chess coach and executive director of Sports Outreach, had visited LCA earlier this fall to share his story about bringing the game of chess to the streets of Kampala. Told through the well-known film, Queen of Katwe, Katende’s life is a powerful testimony of inspiring the next generation.
Hearing that story sparked something in Luca, who began to wonder what he could build himself. He had played chess most of his life — even reaching a personal peak during the long days of COVID quarantines — but this felt different. Chess is a game of strategy and teaches powerful life lessons along the way. Chess had always been personal. Now it could become communal.
So Luca tested the waters.
“I figured out five or six people who might be interested,” he said. With encouragement from faculty mentors and a willingness to try, those six became fifteen. Each week, students began showing up — some experienced, some brand new, all curious.
What surprised him most wasn’t the competition. It was the connection.
Chess, by nature, is a battle of minds. You plan, anticipate, strategize. But across the boards, something else happens too. Players talk. Laugh. Analyze moves together mid-game. Opponents become friends.
“You’re competing,” he explained, “but you’re also connecting with the person in front of you.”
That connection spans grades as well. One of the club’s most enthusiastic players is a middle schooler who eagerly takes on upper school students, bringing a spark of fearless energy to every match.
Luca knows that feeling well. For him, chess is a mental workout that reshapes how the brain thinks. “If your strategy is strong, you’re going to win,” he said simply.
But for Luca, the real victory is creating a space where competition and friendships freely coexist. Every Thursday at Chess club, the room hums with anticipation — not pressure, but rather a desire to keep learning.
“Anyone can come,” Luca said. “We’re just there to improve.” This is what becoming looks like in real time. Sometimes leadership begins with a board, a handful of pieces, and the courage to ask, Who wants to join me?
He’s also thinking ahead. The first step was just getting it started, but what starts as casual games in the cafeteria could one day become interscholastic competition. With guidance from mentors and faculty who are championing this club, he’s exploring how to take the club to the next level. Perhaps one day they’ll be competing in matches against other schools.
For now, LCA’s first Middle School and Upper School Chess Clubs are off to a roaring start. Interest from students has been so high that larger spaces have needed to be acquired for practices. Led by Coach (and former NASA research scientist) Jason Shuster and enthusiastic student leadership, the team has been focused on building its ranks and skill, with the hope of bringing home some new hardware for the trophy case in the future.
Like other leadership roles Luca has held at LCA, whether in Model UN or when starting a volleyball club, Luca is shaping the community around him and bringing people together in beautiful ways.
This is where becoming begins… At LCA, students like Luca are just getting started.
