Her News Interviews Rochelle Ballantyne: “How Hasn’t [Chess] Impacted Me?”

Rochelle Ballantyne: “How Hasn’t [Chess] Impacted Me?”

BY CHLOE COHEN - THE CHAPIN SCHOOL - COACH & COLUMNIST

Photo from BrooklynCastle.com

Rochelle Ballantyne starred in the 2012 film Brooklyn Castle, which documents the journey of the esteemed Intermediate School 318 (I.S. 318) chess team. At I.S. 318, Ms. Ballantyne quickly became a prominent player: by graduation, she had achieved a USCF rating of over 1900. During her time at Brooklyn Technical High School, Ms. Ballantyne’s work with Chess-in-the-Schools led her to study with GM Alex Stripunsky. After receiving a full ride to Stanford University, Ms. Ballantyne is currently an AnBryce Scholar at New York University. One of her favorite openings is the giuoco piano. Her News spoke with Ms. Ballantyne via Zoom about her experiences in the chess world.

How were you first introduced to chess?

My grandmother––I think I was eight, eight or nine––my grandmother taught me how to play. She thought I was too rowdy, so, she wanted something to calm me down or help me focus better.

Did you know right away chess was something you wanted to pursue?

I don’t think so. I think it was more so the fact that she kept beating me. I was very annoyed by losing. And then at the time, a program started at my elementary school, and so I joined with the sole purpose of beating her, and I did eventually.

Do you have any words of wisdom for anyone who might be just starting their chess journey?

I would say to not give up. Chess is a very difficult and annoying game. Losing sucks, and yeah, losing sucks. But, on the other side, there’s so many positive things that you can gain from chess if you stick with it. So yeah, I think that’s what I would say: it can be fun, too.

And I know you’ve had a lot of success at the U.S. All-girl’s National Chess Championships. Was playing in an all-girl’s environment different from other tournaments that you have participated in?

Yeah, definitely. I think just being the only girl at tournaments is definitely very isolating. But there’s this sort of camaraderie that you feel when you’re playing at an all-girls tournament. You don’t really feel like you’re competing against each other. Obviously, you are, but it’s less cut-throat and even afterwards, if you lose against somebody, then they’re like, “Hey, let’s go over it together, let’s see where you messed up, how can you get better?” So, there’s this friendship [and] camaraderie that you get when you’re competing at an all-girls tournament that you don’t necessarily get when you’re playing at regular tournaments.

I know this was quite some time ago, but in Brooklyn Castle, you mentioned that being in a largely male environment was disappointing and motivated you to work towards reaching a rating of 2000. What is the significance of playing chess with other women?

Like I said, the camaraderie; I think that was it. I just felt supported in all of my endeavors and like I had someone rooting for me.

In Brooklyn Castle, when you entered high school at Brooklyn Tech, you said you decided to continue with chess because you knew you could reach that 2000 rating. How did having that goal impact your motivation? 

So, when I set my mind to something, I try very hard to follow through. And so, I think in high school it was easier to have a goal and dedicate myself to completing that goal. And I think it was also because I was in Chess-in-the-Schools, and so, that program was specifically for students who play chess while also helping them through college, and so chess felt very much at the forefront of my life, and so, I guess that continued to motivate me to keep playing and want to get better.

How has chess impacted you in later life?

Wow, what a large question! How hasn’t it impacted me? I guess from early on it taught me how to lose, and having losing being the motivating factor of trying to get better all the time. I think it also just taught me how to keep pushing for what I believe in and what I want, so whether that be ideologies or just goals that I set my mind to, to never give up and in those regards. My mother also had a rule where if I got below a certain grade average I couldn’t play chess anymore, so I guess that motivated me to also be smart, get good grades. But I think chess in general––chess teaches how to think ahead, right––and so, that’s beneficial in whatever you do, like when you’re solving a math problem, like the steps that it takes to figure it out; when you’re writing an essay, the outlines that you create to figure out where you want your argument to go, beginning, middle, end. I want to say [chess teaches] patience, but I don’t think I’m a very patient person. I think I try to be, but that’s not always the case. But I’ve heard patience for other people! I feel like there are tons of things. It helped me get my full ride to Stanford, helped me realize my passion for education, equity, and that led me to grad school, and grad school led me to law school. And so, it’s all because I came from a single parent household, and now I believe that all children should receive the same sort of opportunities that I have.

Photo courtesy of Rochelle Ballantyne