Boy, 5, Is Chairman of the Board

To hear his coach talk, Edwin Solano is a 5-year-old state kindergarten chess champion with the temperament of a master.

The 40-pounder’s concentration level is high. He craftily contemplates each move for several minutes. In tight spots, where other players his age might clamp up, move hastily or even cry, Edwin lowers his chin, stares hard at the pieces and then attacks, cackling “Bye-bye.”

Last month, the little powerhouse tackled five of the toughest, highest-rated kindergartners in the state. After five rounds, Edwin demolished them all to become 1999 California State Grade Level Chess Champion in his category, and a local hero at 122nd Street Elementary School.

Tonight, Edwin and a dozen relatives plan to caravan to Phoenix, where he is scheduled to participate in his most brutal contest yet: the National Elementary Chess Championships. There, he will face a field of 102 players from all over the United States on Friday and Saturday.

“We’re so excited and proud of him,” his mother, Danelia Solano, exclaimed in Spanish. “I didn’t even know he liked to play!”

Standing beside his collection of trophies--a few of them nearly as tall as he is--the sturdy little boy with a butch haircut and dark brown eyes smiled confidently and said, “I’m not nervous. I’m going to play hard.”

Edwin may have found a measure of fame by playing chess, which he learned to play late last year, but he remains intensely interested in soccer, macaroni and cheese, Godzilla toys and a telescope his parents gave him for winning the state title.

Coached by 122nd Street fourth-grade teacher Jesus Salazar, who formed the school chess club a year ago, and his father, Pedro Solano, an electrical engineer, Edwin does not let chess get in the way of his schoolwork, and he takes his sudden popularity in stride.

“When I won the state championship, I just smiled,” Edwin said. “I leave all my trophies in my classroom so other people can see them.”

To be sure, there are times when Edwin can be as volcanic as Garry Kasparov. When he goes against his father on a $20 chessboard in the family living room, he is liable to get visibly frustrated if the pieces don’t move his way.

“His father scolds him, ‘Don’t you dare cry about it. Study your mistakes and learn from them,’ ” his mother said.

This morning, Edwin was sure to be taking that advice to heart in last-minute practice sessions with coach Salazar and other adults.

“I’ve been going over moves with him,” Salazar said. “And Edwin’s been keeping count of how many times he’s beat me. I think he’ll do well.”

As Edwin dispatched a much older opponent in a classroom full of books, computers, chessboards and his own trophies, Principal Richard Lopez said, “No matter what happens in Phoenix, he will always be the 1999 state kindergarten champion from 122nd Street.

“No one can take that from him.”