The Standard: From Student to Coach, Brother Rice Graduate Leads Chess Team

By Spencer Cerceo ‘25

Brother Rice alumnus Sean Kirchman, Class of 2018, is back in the building, but this time as the head coach of the chess team.

Coach Kirchman said, “When I was at Brother Rice from 2014 to 2018, I played on the chess team. I was the board one and the captain for the chess team my junior and senior years, so I have some experience teaching the other players how to play chess.”

Being a Brother Rice graduate gives Coach Kirchman many advantages as a head coach. He can coach the chess team more comfortably because he has a connection to the school and has been on the team in the past. Kirchman uses his skills to grow students’ knowledge and help them become leaders in the Brother Rice chess community.

Coach Kirchman said, “I would like us to successfully qualify for the sectionals and state, which is not a hard threshold to meet because we have to compete as a team.”

A winning mentality is what Coach Kirchman has, and that is what the team needs. His ambition helped the chess team to succeed in sectionals and eventually state. Having a mindset to win gets the team a big step closer to accomplishing its goals this season.

Brother Rice senior Gavin Ryan said, “Since he already has that Rice experience, he teaches us what he used to do when he was coached.”

As one of only two seniors on the chess team, Gavin is excited to follow Coach Kirchman’s methods and is eager to reach the coaches and the team’s goals of qualifying for sectionals and state.

“A lot of the beginners’ mistakes are just about board vision, and a lot of one-move blunders where they do not realize a piece is attacked and they give it away. But for more advanced players it is more about a slower more positional game where they slowly get outplayed,” Coach Kirchman said.

Kirchman is quick to tackle the problems that the new and veteran players have. He helps new players spot and correct their issues. With the veteran players, he helps them work out the minor kinks to allow them to play to their full potential. Coach Kirchman is ready to lead the chess team to victory.