Photo By Alun Thomas | Staff Sgt. Derick Arellano, station commander, Queen Creek Recruiting Station, Tempe...... read more read more
QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. – It is an obsession that began at a young age for Staff Sgt. Derick Arellano—the art of chess and strategy, something he has developed into near perfection during his lifetime.
This level of performance has allowed Arellano to become one of the highest ranked chess players in the U.S. military.
Arellano plans to compete in the upcoming 63rd Annual US Armed Forces Championship at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., in October and solidify his status as the best.
Getting to this point was no easy task.
Arellano, station commander, Queen Creek Recruiting Station, Tempe Recruiting Company, Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, was born in Vail, Colo., before his family moved to the smaller rural community of Penasco, N.M.
This is where Arellano learned the art of chess, his father teaching him the basics and setting him up for further success.
“I got into chess at the age of seven, that’s when I learned how the pieces worked and some beginner strategies from my father,” Arellano said. “After learning how to play and the objective of the game, I wanted to win against anyone and everyone I played against.”
“My first victory came when I made a bet against my father; if I won then I got to sleep over at a friend’s house, but if I lost, I had to cut the grass. With so much on the line, I obliterated him and secured my sleepover,” he recalled.
Arellano would compete for Penasco High School, helping take them to five consecutive state championships from 2003-2007, as he became the focal point for the team after significant training.
“I had money saved up over my time doing housework and asked my family members if they would help pay for my lessons, to which they agreed. I started contacting Grand Masters & International Masters from all over the world,” he said. “It took me about a week or two to find the right teacher with the right teaching style to lead me to my goals, but I found him; his name was Goran Vojinovic, an International Master from Serbia. He had several students who’ve become National Champions under his instruction.”
This allowed Arellano to improve his position in his high school team and take them to unparalleled success.
“At the age of 12 or 13 I worked my way up to 2nd board from 6th (which meant I was always playing against the 2nd best player on the team),” Arellano explained. “Sitting next to my cousin Andrew who was on 1st board, the team coach noticed how easily and often I was beating him.”
“Once I took over on 1st board, we were winning state championships and now I was the one teaching the team how to play like champions,” he added.
Arellano would frequently compete in games on the internet, also helping improve his performance.
“I started playing on a website called World Chess Network (WCN). It's no longer in service, but in its day, it was the go-to platform for chess players all over the world. There I started watching Grand Masters, International Masters, and Fide Masters play,” Arellano explained. “But they were playing one minute games (bullet chess). I was blown away with the speed and accuracy of their play. I started playing bullet chess for several hours every day. By the time I was 12 years old, I’d played over 100,000 matches.”
Over the years Arellano has participated in several Over the Board (OTB) tournaments, winning in his designated section, but he said because the United States doesn’t hold as many chess tournaments as Europe does, his in-person rating never got as high as his internet rating did.
This hasn’t deterred Arellano and his chess career has continued to flourish, even after joining the Army in 2009 as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.
“As a young paratrooper, it was difficult to find time to play like I used to,” Arellano continued. “But my love of the game never went away. I played in a couple of tournaments at Fort Bragg when I could find the time.”
Arellano would eventually find himself on recruiting duty in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he measured his performance against difficult opposition.
“I participated against much harder chess competition there, because Brownsville and Texas A&M are colleges that have masters on their respective teams,” Arellano said. “As a successful recruiter in the San Antonio battalion, it was hard to find time for chess. But I was excelling in recruiting where I finished the recruiting year as a top ten performer in the battalion with 26 enlistments in 2017.”
Arellano is now determined to prove he is the top chess player in the various military branches during the forthcoming tournament.
“I’m ready to show the world who’s the best in the Armed Forces – it will be me," Arellano said.
| Date Taken: | 08.03.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2022 16:39 |
| Story ID: | 426464 |
| Location: | QUEEN CREEK, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 251 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Making his move: Army recruiter aims for chess glory, by Alun Thomas, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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