It took only a moment before one of his students spotted the signal for silence so the chess tournament could begin. The student's hand also went up in the air.

Rapidly arms shot upward and a hush fell over the room.

Wright, who is being educated at home by his parents Dr. Mark Wright and Dr. Carol Burns, made a proposal to Principal Steve Beale to serve as the coach for a chess club at Avery Elementary in Hilliard.

"We used to have a chess club here when I was a teacher," said Beale, who served as a coach at the time. "When I became a principal I became too busy to run it."

A teacher took over coaching the chess club for a while, but it was a supplemental position designed for fun which did not last.

Silas Bousch, a kindergarten student at Avery Middle School, took chess lessons from Wright this past summer.

Bousch's mother, Stacy, told the principal that Wright, who was ranked 12th in the nation and third in the state in his age division as a chess player for the past year, would like to get a Competitive Chess Team for Avery going again and coach it.

"I'm not sure about this," Beale said, considering Wright's age. "Have him call me."

Instead Beale made the initial call at about 2:30 p.m. one day and Wright answered the telephone.

"Mark David?" Beale asked. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

Wright explained that both of his parents are optometrists and he is schooled at home.

"I have prepared a 10- to 15-minute presentation for the chess club," he told Beale. "If your schedule would accommodate a few minutes, I would love to come in and show it to you."

Beale was stunned.

He said he has worked with adults over the years who are not nearly as advanced in their thinking or prepared as Wright.

Wright said his father taught him to play chess when he was four years old, but he did not get serious about the game of strategy until three years ago.

Wright said he beat his father at chess when he was about 8 years old and now that he has three coaches they rarely play together.

"He plays with John Michael," Wright said of his father and brother.

His brother is in first grade and as of Nov. 30 was ranked 11th in the nation and first in the state in his age group as a chess player.

The two brothers were headed to Texas on Dec. 1 to participate in a national tournament to determine their ranking for the coming year.

Beale said Burns assured him that the chess club was her son's project.

Since the youth had never been a teacher, Beale was concerned about how Wright would organize and manage the program, including when and where parents would pick up their children afterward.

"She said 'You better ask him, he needs to think about that stuff,'" Beale recalled.

Burns did suggest that her son be called "coach" so there would be a distinction between himself and some students who might be more advanced in age.

As she helped her son prepare for the tournament on Nov. 30, Burns said her son was sure he could coach the chess club without a problem since he helped teach the game to his brother.

She said he gives his students homework every week in order to earn extra points.

"He's got a point system," Beale said. "If they beat him, they earn so many thousands of points."

Carrying a status sheet on a clipboard around the room with him prior to the chess tournament, Wright checked the standings of his students.

Generally he provides a Power Point presentation for each of the lessons, but at the final session for the semester the computerized program was specific to awards.

The top two players in the tournament were face to face across the chess board, studiously trying to determine the next move of the opposition.

To bone up on his playing abilities, Wright reads books about the board game and is coached by Michael Dixon, F. Leon Wilson and Kyle Jones.

While Wright prefers playing someone who knows what they are doing on the chess board, he said, he also enjoys coaching others.

Coaching 35 to 40 students in the chess club at Avery has helped Wright develop his own skills.

"There are things I skip over when I play," he said.

When students began asking questions about different moves, Wright said, they sometimes hit on something he has never thought about.

Throughout the 10 lessons at the elementary, Wright carefully observed his pupils, scurrying from one end of the room to the other.

"I am watching, making sure they are making good moves and not arguing," he said.

The moment a hand was thrust into the air indicating a question or checkmate, Wright raced in the direction of the players.

"Now I've got you!" Bousch said, springing to his feet as he perceived a wrong move by his opponent.

In no time, Wright returned to the rear of the room and had Bousch back in his seat, completing the task at hand.

Beale said he thinks Wright will have as much attendance for the second semester as he did for the first.

"He runs it very, very well," Beale said.

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