FAYETTEVILLE — The curiosity of a 4-year-old about an old chess set on a closet shelf has led to a 10-year passion for one Fayetteville teen.
Alex Wolf, now 14, who describes himself as passionate about chess, spent Thursday evening with his dad, Patrick Wolf, a University of Arkansas professor. The younger Wolf sat at a table during an open house trying to get his classmates at Haas Hall Academy to join the school’s Chess Club.
Students and their parents, jamming the school’s commons area, paused to watch Alex take on his dad in a timed chess match. In the timed event, he allowed his dad five minutes for the game while he gave himself a minute of cumulative time for all moves.
The clock ran out on his dad. Alex had a few seconds left.
Meanwhile, students visited with teachers and looked over other student organizations, while parents checked out classrooms during the open house.
Superintendent Martin Schoppmeyer said 294 students, or scholars as the school calls them, are enrolled when school starts Wednesday. Haas Hall is a public open enrollment charter high school emphasizing math and science studies for college bound students. The school has students in eighth through 12th grades.
Many of the students come from a home school environment and most are primarily from Washington and Benton counties. An open enrollment public charter school is one that operates under the terms of a charter granted by the Arkansas State Board of Education and may draw its students from any public school district in Arkansas.
The school is beginning its seventh year. In addition to record number of students enrolled this year, the school has six new teachers and is adding courses in art, French and journalism as well as more science courses, Schoppmeyer said. The school has added 6,000 square feet in additional space, leasing it from the old World Gym location, next door to the school, Schoppmeyer said.
“This is also the first year we’re offering multiple sections of a course,” Schoppmeyer said.
The school’s growth is in stark contrast to the first year when it opened with 13 students in a converted dairy barn in rural Farmington.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Schoppmeyer said, looking back. “Moving to Fayetteville really has been good to us. We knew we needed to be here. We’ve just been very fortunate to have a quality home school network support and support from the business community.”
Looking ahead, Schoppmeyer said the school already has 700 students enrolled through 2024 and some are on a waiting list through that year.
Back in the commons area, the Wolf duo of father and son continue to play chess.
The younger Wolf represented Arkansas in the Denker Tournament of High School Chess Champions in Irvine, Calif. He scored two wins, one draw, and three losses, ending in 36th place among 48 state champions. At 14, he was the youngest competitor there.
One of the games at that tournament lasted three and a half hours, the longest game Wolf has played, he said.
“I really enjoy chess,” Wolf said. “I like to solve puzzles. Intellectual puzzles are a great challenge to the mind. And, I like to meet new friends.”
Wolf also participated in a junior high school national tournament in Minnesota where he finished with four points out of possible seven, he said.
The elder Wolf said he taught his son to play chess when he was 4 years old, because “he demanded it.” The boy was very curious about the chess set on the shelf in the closet.
Does dad ever allow son to win? “I haven’t done that since he was about seven,” the elder Wolf said with a laugh.
Fast Facts
Haas Hall Academy
Location: 3155 North College Avenue, Suite 108
Established: 2004
Students enrolled: 294
Source: Staff Report