David Schneider, a 14-year-old resident of Jericho, recently won the Chess in the Parks Rapid Open second Annual Chess Championship, which was held at Bethesda Foundation in Central Park.

Approximately 500 entrants were present to execute their various strategies. Schneider was playing in the teen division up against teens from 14 to 19 years old. The tournament lasted from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and consisted of six rounds and an hour between each round.

After going undefeated for six matches, Schneider had to play another opponent in the teen division who was also undefeated. In the playoff round, they were given a 5-minute, clocked, sudden death match to decide who would take home the first place trophy.

"I really enjoy the tournaments," said Schneider who started playing chess at the age of three after his parents taught him the basics. "I had a good feeling going into this tournament."

Schneider played rapid fire, strong offense and defense and kept control of the board. With only seconds left on the clock, Schneider swept his rook across the board and checkmated his opponent, securing the first place trophy by wining seven perfect matches in a row. Schneider also received an autographed copy of international grandmaster Lev Alburt's newest book Building Up Your Chess, a new official tournament chess set and a second annual Chess-in-the-Parks 2002 T-shirt for his efforts.

Schneider, a freshman at Jericho High School, plans to continue playing chess and enter more competitions in the future.