Queen's Gambit?Thomas Caldwell More like Bishop's Gambit! (That joke will make sense when you learn his name is Dave Bishop.)

Who is he? A generally cool dude, and lifelong chess lover.

• Dave Bishop is a part-time chess coach at George B. Weatherbee School in Hampden, Me. as well as their custodian. He also coaches the nearby Reeds Brook Middle School team as well.
• Earlier this year, his teams were both victors at the Maine Scholastic Chess Championships.
• He picked the custodian job up in early retirement after spending his career working in telecommunications. And he spends hours with students every week, without receiving a dime.

What's the big deal? Aside from the fact that we're witnessing a Netflix original series manifesting itself in real time?

• Dave is a great coach! He shares his love for the game, teaches the students perseverance, and has the star players to prove it.
• This weekend, his team is headed to Baltimore, Md. for the 2023 National Elementary Championships.
• One of Dave's mentees is 11-year-old Avery Zhang, who was crowned the state champion for grades K through 5 this year.

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Here's what Dave and Avery had to say.

On what drew Dave into coaching chess:

Well, it's the next step to being competitive. You're going from just a recreational or intramural club to actually being a competitive team. It's a very unique sport. There's a wide range of strength of players, so you're able to match up each player a lot better versus, say, basketball, when you just got one school against another school.

Avery on Bishop as a teacher:

He coaches us without even getting paid, so I think it's really amazing.

He motivates lots of kids to join and have a chance to become a state champion.

Bishop on teaching:

What I like about coaching the kids is seeing them go from, say, the K-2 level to where Avery is right now. Avery, for instance, has grown so much that his rating strength is higher than any player over at the middle school. He has a passion for it, and that just proves my theory: If you really like something and stick with it, you're going to get better. And he's really taken it to the next level. He studies at night when he comes home. I see him as, like, a 1500 player by his sophomore year.

And on what he hopes his students take away from him:

There's a lot of metaphors with the sport of chess. It's that hard work really does pay off. If you study like Avery and you love what you do, you get a lot better, and you stick with it.

So, what now?

• Bishop's students will aim for greatness once again this weekend.
  
• No word on whether any of the kids can project a massive upside-down chess board on the ceilings of their bedrooms.

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