Meet Mason Jesse Stern: the 11-year-old chess champion making waves in South Africa

A young  chess player from Sea Point is making waves outperforming his peers after winning the South African Junior Closed Chess Championship last year in the U10 division, and has now won it again this year in the U12 division

Mason Jesse Stern, who is 11 years old, is making his parents proud with his superior chess skills that have astounded even his coach,  who is also an ardent chess player and national champion. His proud mom Cezanne said Mason just saw a chess board at the age of five, while they were at a  holiday resort and became enamoured and took to chess like a duck to water.

"He wanted to know what these pieces are and how do you play this game. His father knew a little about chess and started introducing him to the basic rules. When he turned six, he started asking if he can please have chess board and he started getting interested, playing with family members and friends, usually adults. The adults he played with, he usually outplayed them. He knew naturally the basics and we didn't understand how he could go with this so far. It didn't make sense and I didn't even think that chess was a sport.

She said unlike the rest of her family who is very musical (her grandfather was the legendary accordian player Nico Carstens and her mother-in law was the famous opera singer Sarita Stern), Mason is the odd one out "with two left feet".

"It's like chess is  his music and he is playing chess music with his head."

"He played against a lot of adults and that is how I met Anzel to analyse him and test him."

Anzel Laubscher  was crowned the South African Women’s Closed Chess Champion this year. She is a dedicated chess educator and has recently developed a book for chess teachers titled Chess Curriculum: A Teacher’s Guide.

"When he was six, Anzel was the African champion and she works with kids and she analyzed him and said we have to enter him into tournaments."

She said he son has a natural talent and sees six, seven moves ahead. "He is just incredible; nothing can stop him, and he just wants to play."

She said her son is naturaly inquisitive and ask a lot of questions.

"Someone gave him a package of chess cards at last month's SA championships as a present and in the chess pack are all the opening moves and he knew exactly the code for the movements. He wants to know everything."

Cezanne said she deliberately didn't want to learn how to play chess because as a life coach she wants to focus on her son's mental wellbeing.

"If he lost, I didn't want to go over the game and tell him why didn't he do this or that. I want to ask him how do he feel about doing that. I want to focus on his emotional wellbeing."

His coach Anzel said she has been coaching Mason since he was seven year's old and said he has an exceptional talent which needs to be nurtured and managed very carefully.

"It was right after Covid and the chess landscape changed drastically at the time when he started playing tournaments.

"It took a while until the regular tournaments and structures were in place again. There were also administrative challenges within Chess South Africa which delayed the regulation of the chess scene. especially for the junior players.

"Once the tournaments were reinstated and regulated properly, Mason took up every challenge and opportunity to play. He won the SA Junior Closed u10 championship last year. This year he had to play in the higher age group and won the u12 championship as well, despite being a year younger. This little gentleman is a true ambassador for this game, which is known as the 'gentleman's game'."

Laubscher said Mason is extremely talented but his talent is not the only factor that makes him a true champion.

"He is an exceptional sportsman and team player. When he played his first tournament at the age of 7, he won his section. He FaceTime called me from the car after the event. The intention was to show me his medal. I asked: 'Mason, how did the tournament go' (expecting him to show me the medal). His response: 'Coach Anzel, it was awesome! I made SO many new friends'

"To me as a coach, that is the real win.  As a coach it is important to remember that my players will maybe not be chess players for the rest of their lives, but they will be human beings. The trophies and medals gather dust on the shelves, but the memories and experiences stay alive for the rest of their lives. I prefer to invest in the latter as a coach." 

Cezanne said because of the travelling to the various chess championships and games, it can become quite expensive and would be keen to have sponsors to support her son in his dream.