In the past two decades, Chicago Public Schools has built a vibrant chess program, hosting championships and tournaments in elementary and high schools across the city. Advocates say playing the game can boost academic performance and confidence and give students a chance to form relationships with students in other parts of the city.

And one participant in the CPS chess program has taken his skills to incredible heights: Avi Kaplan recently became the youngest player in Chicago to become a chess master. The distinction is awarded to expert players by the U.S. Chess Federation.

Reset caught up with 16-year-old Kaplan after he earned the rare title.

On choosing his opening move

So for my openings — it’s interesting — because for longer tournaments, you know who you’re playing an hour, half-an-hour before. [Your opponent will] prepare for you and look through your past games, so sometimes I’ll mix it up a little bit — switch it to get a new position. And that’s something I enjoy doing is playing a bunch of different opening moves or just different openings; That way I can get experience and new types of positions, especially when I’m practicing.

On how he got started playing

At my elementary school there were some clubs and chess club was one of them. It seemed like an interesting club, I found it unique, so I joined it. There were different groups and I was on one of the lower groups to start off. I was just playing with other kids. I was progressing slowly and moving up the rankings. Then I eventually made it into the highest group at our club, and I found myself there and started improving.

On how much he trains

I typically train probably three to four hours each day. During the weekends is usually when I have my tournaments, which can be 20 to even 30 hours, if you include the time to prepare. It’s definitely a commitment. Usually, when I’m preparing, I review openings; There’s definitely a lot of sites that I can be playing practice games on.

On his favorite part about the game

Something I really like about chess is that there’s always room for improvement. Even if you win a game, at some point, there’s something you can improve upon. Whether you win, lose, draw, it’s always a learning opportunity. Something I like to do is whenever I’m finished playing a game, I like to talk it over with my opponent after the game — getting a new perspective on their thought processes.

On the biggest misconception about chess players

Maybe a misconception is that they’re antisocial? Because I definitely think I actually met most of my friends playing chess. I think if anything, it definitely helped me become more social, get better connections with other individuals who play.

This transcription was edited for clarity and brevity. You can listen to the full interview by clicking the red audio player above.