Practicing last week at Central Falls High School is Cristian Estrada, at right. A middle school student, he recently tied for a first place in the Rhode Island Open chess tournament — in a category for adults (under grand master level).

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

CENTRAL FALLS — The state tournament is two months away, but the players are already working on their game.

Frank DelBonis, social-studies teacher by school day, middle school coach by afternoon, was at the board, going over one of the team’s last games, quizzing the players on offensive and defensive strategy.

But there were no helmets or pads in the room. No shoes with cleats or outfielder mitts on the walls. That’s because in Central Falls, the championship sport is chess.

For more than a decade, Central Falls students have dominated Rhode Island’s scholastic chess scene, frequently winning individual and team titles. In 2008, they went to the United States Chess Federation’s national scholastic tournament and finished seventh in their division. The high school team is this year’s defending state champion.

And batting cleanup for the middle school squad is Cristian Estrada, a Calcutt Middle School eighth-grader who this fall tied for first place in the Rhode Island Open chess tournament — in a category for adults.

With his gentle face, quiet voice and wide, dark eyes, he seems an unlikely dominator. But at a chessboard, DelBonis said, he is ruthless.

Estrada’s strength is the middle game, he said, when both players have exchanged pieces and been knocked off the patterns they’d meant to follow. Estrada has a superior ability to analyze those situations, he said, and spot a winning combination of moves.

Estrada said he tries to not only think of what he wants to do, but what his opponent is planning.

“I see what I can do, I see what he can do and look for the thing that will mess him up,” he said.

He currently prefers playing black, which always moves second. He likes the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense, an aggressive pattern that draws white out and creates openings for slashing counterattacks from the sides.

Estrada learned to play from his father, he said, and joined the chess club in fourth grade. DelBonis said the biggest hurdle Estrada had to overcome was his intensity. Losing infuriated him.

“He was afraid to lose,” DelBonis said. “I said, you learn from your failures.”

“He’s the most gifted kid we’ve ever had,” DelBonis said.

DelBonis used one of Estrada’s games Thursday to illustrate his points. It was in a meet against Providence Hebrew Day School, where Estrada was on the ropes, a knight simultaneously threatening both his rooks and a three-way attack on one of his bishops.

Estrada took 20 minutes — about a third of the time he had for all his moves — to come up with his next move, DelBonis said. It led to an aggressive mistake by his opponent that saw Estrada eventually win the game.

“Never give up,” DelBonis told the players. “Never give up. Make him beat you. The other guy can make a mistake just like you can.”

High school Principal Elizabeth L. Legault said the team’s success means a lot to the school’s students and staff, particularly when most of the notice Central Falls schools get are for their low-range test scores.

“We’re just very proud of Cristian, of the students at our school,” she said. “Not only has he brought us some attention, with such a challenging game, it shows that these students can perform at a high level.”

The team’s success is the product of the efforts of three volunteer coaches. At the elementary school level, school psychologist Gina Dufresne runs the chess clubs. DelBonis coaches middle school, and Daniel Amadio handles the high school.

DelBonis said Dufresne has already sent them another hot prospect, sixth-grader Sam Adofo, who looks to be as good as Estrada. And Dufresne gets giddy about a new student from China who just moved to the city.

“I’ve got to work on my Cantonese,” she said. “This kid is going to go all the way. This kid is good.”

jhill@projo.com