Chess Champ Has All The Right Moves

Cannon Farragut, an 8-year-old Hunter’s Green resident, recently captured a Florida State Chess Championship. Is there a national championship on the horizon for this chess wunderkind?

Chess began with a key on a laptop keyboard being plucked loose and set aside.

Then another. And another.

By the time William Farragut discovered what was happening and could stop Cannon, his then-4-year-old son, every key on his laptop had been removed.

“I was furious,” William says. So, as a solution for his uber-curious son, William bought Cannon his own, cheaper laptop. He loaded it with math and science programs, and randomly ran across a chess app and installed that, too.

“I was being totally stereotypical, but chess is for smart kids, right?” William asks.

Within a month, it was the only thing Cannon was playing. By watching videos of matches, he learned not only how the pieces move, but how to “weaponize” those moves by stringing them together and outsmarting the opposition.

His father was stunned.

Four years later, Cannon, now 8, is the Arnold Denker Florida State Champion in the 1800-under division. High-level chess players don’t generally compete in age groups, they compete against others in the same ratings group. Cannon toppled adults 3-4 times his age on his way to the championship at the 1800-&-Under level (more on this below).

In November, he will represent the U.S. at the World Youth Championships in Spain.

Then, in December, he’ll travel to the National Scholastic Chess Championships in Orlando, where the very best players in the country will be on hand to prove their rankings. Cannon is currently ranked in the Top 20 in the U.S. in his age group, but is in the top 10 of everyone in the 1800-&-Under rating group in the entire U.S.

Can he win a national championship?

“I think I can win,” Cannon says.

On a typical Tuesday night. Cannon breezes through the meeting room at Compton Park, which is filled with dozens of young New Tampa chess players, members of the invite-only Champions Chess Club coached by Tampa Palms residents Mark Ritter and his wife Tania Kranich-Ritter, a former New York State champion.

Cannon is happy, polite, affable. Even during his matches, he looks around the room, smiling, rising from his seat to walk around and watch some of his clubmates. On occasion, he’ll also practice his jump shot form, as Cannon also is a skilled basketball player.

But Mark, an internationally rated chess master and one of only five Level 5-rated coaches in the country, and Tania, who coached teams at Tampa Palms Elementary and Liberty Middle School to national championships in 2005 and 2006, respectively, were skeptical when Cannon, then 5, showed up at the club hoping to join.

“When I first came in, they almost pushed me away,’’ William says, laughing.

Cannon hid behind his father’s legs. The club was mostly older kids, Tania told William, with players from 3rd grade to high school, with ratings ranging from 500 to 2100.

William tried to explain that he thought Cannon had something, and Mark told him every parent says that. But, since they had already made the trip, Mark agreed to sit down at the chess board with the youngster.

After five minutes, Mark looked at William, and said, “You know, there might be something here.”

Cannon then played one of the lower-rated players in the club, and lost. The tears flowed. When he and William left that day, Mark wasn’t sure he’d ever see them again.

Cannon did come back, however, and lost again, and cried again, a scenario that repeated itself several times the first few weeks. He was, however, getting better every visit. When he was six, he officially joined the club.

Mark says Cannon’s appetite for chess was voracious, and he devoured more and more instructional videos as his rating started climbing and the wins began piling up.

Even more pleasing was that Cannon slowly transformed from a shy kid into a social butterfly, making friends easily and becoming one of the club’s most popular members.

“Cannon’s growing social skills emphasize a much-overlooked benefit of chess,” says Mark. “While most of the focus remains on improving one’s game and rating — too much in my opinion — important social behaviors, such as sportsmanship, communication and interaction, are part of the package, too.”

Cannon has rapidly evolved from a kid plucking the keys off his father’s computer keyboard to Florida’s best player among those with 1800-&-Under ratings, according to the U.S. Chess Federation ratings. As such, he rarely plays anyone who is not much older than he is, a fact that Cannon admits has created some awkward situations.

“I think they are more nervous than I am,” Cannon says. “I don’t think they want to lose to a kid.”

But, his recent Florida State title is certainly the biggest win of his career, at least so far.

“It is a big deal,” Cannon says. “This is like my first major tournament I won and that inspires me to keep going, so I can become a Grandmaster and beat Magnus Carlsen.”

Both are lofty goals — Cannon is currently rated at 1771; when you reach 2200, you become a Master, and at 2500 you are a Grandmaster. But,  Carlsen, the current World Champion, is a true chess prodigy with a rating greater than 2800.

Chess is a hard game that very few master. So, how has an 8-year-old managed to do it?

Tough to say, says Mark.

“Nobody’s answered that question,” he says. “His ability to see tactics and combinations that most players can’t is phenomenal. He has a natural ability for spatial relationships, pattern recognition, things like that. How do you define that? It’s just wiring.”

Well, there’s wiring and then there’s hard work. Cannon is a dedicated student of the game. He describes the chessboard as a picture, or a puzzle. He says he sees what to do in his mind, “which is telling me what to do, like connecting the dots. Where the line starts is my first move.”

Cannon’s tendency to move too quickly at times is one of his few weaknesses. When he sees a dot to connect, he does so, with supreme confidence, even if it only took him a few minutes to notice. Sometimes, he admits that there was a better move out there.

That didn’t stop him in Jacksonville, however, when he won his State title. That victory netted Cannon $800 and a trophy (photo) almost as tall as he is. He loves his trophy. The money, he says, “I’m giving to my mom and dad so they can have some of it.”

That should at least cover the cost of that laptop, new keys and all.

MOD Pizza Ready For Prime Time

MOD Pizza’s first Tampa Bay-area location, located at 2227 Sun Vista Dr. on the south side of S.R. 56 west of the Starbucks, is set to open on Tuesday, Oct. 9, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. and free pizza for the first 52 customers.

While the first 52 get a free artisan-style pizza, 100 percent of all pizza sales after that will be donated to The Mike Evans Family Foundation, a non-profit 5-1(c)(3) started by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver, who is expected to be in attendance.

“MOD has established itself as a leader in the fast-casual pizza category while offering customers an authentic, affordable and fast dining experience,” said Jarett Levan, president of BBX Capital, the exclusive MOD Pizza franchisee in Florida, in a statement. “We are thrilled to spearhead the rapid expansion of the brand throughout the state with our first Tampa location.”

MOD pizzas, which we featured in this July story, are hand-cooked in 800-degree ovens in just minutes, and feature fresh-pressed dough and signature sauces, as well as any combination of more than 30 featured non-GMO toppings.

“We were and are the first super fast-casual chain in the United States,” Brick Kerge, VP of Operations for Food for Thought Restaurant Group, which owns the local MOD franchise, told us. “This is not just another pizza place.”

BBX Capital has signed an agreement to develop as many as 60 Florida outposts for MOD over the next five to seven years. Founded in Seattle in 2008, MOD is the country’s No. 1 fastest-growing chain, according to Nation’s Restaurant News’ list of the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Chains.

While MOD is the fastest-growing chain, it will soon have competition across the street from Blaze Pizza, the second-fastest-growing chain and currently under construction on the north side of S.R. 56.

 

Business Notes: Party Time In Wesley Chapel?

Construction is booming all along S.R. 56, with each new building bringing new questions — What’s that going to be?

When you head east on S.R. 56 you can see new construction behind Restaurant Row, the string of eateries that now line 56 across from the Tampa Premium Outlets.

According to permitting records, an 11,015-sq.-ft. Party City store is coming, as well as a 55,084-sq.-ft. Hobby Lobby, which has been previously reported.

(Older permitting from May also shows an 11,003-sq.-ft. Five Below discount store as well, but nothing has been updated since, perhaps because the shell had yet to be constructed, as it is now).

Founded in 1986 and based in Rockaway, NJ, Party City is a chain specializing in party supplies and Halloween costumes, with the nearest one located on E. Fowler Ave. across from University Mall.

It is unclear from the permitting filed if the Wesley Chapel location will be a Party City or it’s new concept, a Toy City, which hopes to fill the void left by Toys R Us.

Hobby Lobby is a chain of arts & crafts stores based in Oklahoma City, with the nearest locations in Zephyrhills, New Port Richey, Clearwater and Lakeland. Founded in 1972 with a single store, today there are more than 800 Hobby Lobby stores nationwide.

TENANT WANTED: Developer Rave Commercial has filled three of the four vacancies in its new strip center on S.R. 54 a half-mile east of Bruce B. Downs Blvd., and says that business at the new Starbucks that is anchoring the Pleasant Plaza has so far exceeded expectations.

The plaza also is home to Pizza Hut, which opened earlier this summer, and a nail salon will be soon be beginning construction.

That leaves one 1,267 sq.-ft. space left to lease, which developers say has to be a retail store.

With Publix soon to be on the move and relocating to S.R. 54 and Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. from its current location on Bruce B. Downs and S.R. 54, and all the action happening across the street with Dunkin’ Donuts, Chick-Fil-A and Wawa beginning construction soon, the developers of Pleasant Plaza are hoping to land a notable retail business to an area that should be a hotbed for customers in the coming years.

School Security A Call To Duty For New Guards

Eugene Figueroa was sitting in the living room of his Spring Hill home when he first saw the reports of another school shooting, this time on Feb. 14 of this year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, FL.

Figueroa’s heart dropped. He felt sick. He could not believe that once again, helpless and unsuspecting children had been gunned down in their classrooms.

In the aftermath, the debate raged for days and months — how can we stop this from happening again?

Figueroa, a 51-year-old retired correctional officer, had his own ideas, and they didn’t involve arming teachers or running schools like a military base.

His idea involved people like him, retired law enforcement, retired military, retired security.

“I’m right here,” he yelled one night at his television as pundits argued over the best course of action.

As it turned out, Figueroa wasn’t alone. The idea of requiring an armed security officer at every school in Florida’s 67 countywide districts was almost immediately passed into law following the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas, with $67 million set aside to fund it. While that wasn’t enough to pay for actual police officers, counties like Pasco had opted to hire 55 full-time “guardians” for its 49 elementary schools.

“We had 200 people apply in the first two days,” says Pasco County assistant superintendant for support services Elizabeth Kuhn. “We had to shut the ad down.”

Among the first to apply were Figueroa, now stationed at Seven Oaks, Roy Wright, who is at Veterans, and Fred Jackson at Quail Hollow elementary schools.

When the county launched the school security program, it was looking for very specific people. Previous experience in law enforcement, security or the military was a must, and the ability to relate to children and thrive in a school environment was just as important.

“A lot of the job would be interacting with kids, not just standing up against a wall,” Kuhn said. “This was not just a law enforcement job, it was not just a school job, it was both.”

That made it perfect for Jackson, a soft-spoken, 52-year-old retired police officer from Fort Myers.

So, Who Are These Guys?

Jackson had worked with children his entire adult life. He was a D.A.R.E. officer, helping to keep kids from getting involved in drugs and gangs, and was a school resource officer for 10 years.


“My whole life was trying to make life better for people in predominantly poor areas,” Jackson says.

That included time working the streets in some of Fort Myers’ most drug-infested areas, and watching the crack epidemic take off and, unfortunately, flourish.

Quail Hollow’s security guard sees himself as a mentor, much in the way he viewed his middle school football coach, who was also a police officer and often wore his uniform to practices.

“That really appealed to me,” he says.

Football was Jackson’s plan B. He was a standout safety for Florida A&M High in Tallahassee, and earned a scholarship to Florida A&M University (also in Tallahassee) before his playing days were scuttled by a neck injury.

He was working a security job in Atlanta when his wife Eugenia, a third-grade teacher at Woodland Elementary in Zephyrhills, told him about the opportunity.

“I was saddened by the Parkland shooting, thinking about all the innocent kids who didn’t have a chance to mature and grow up to be whatever they wanted to be,” Jackson says. “So, the chance to reach kids and protect kids, this was the best thing for me. I really saw this as a calling.”

Like every school security officer, Jackson underwent 132 intensive hours of training this summer in preparation, a good many of those hours dedicated to the gun range and live shooter simulations.

In Pasco, school security officers wear a ballistic vest, and carry a gun on one hip and a Taser on the other. “And we have ample amounts of ammunition,” Jackson says.

Jackson loves his interactions with the kids at Quail Hollow, describing it as a family.

And, while he understands why some parents may have initially been leery of an armed guard around their children, just the other day a father there to pick up his son walked up to him to thank him for what he is doing.

“I pray for you guys every night,” he told Jackson, who has a job he wishes wasn’t necessary. But, it is one he feels it is one of the most important he has ever had.

“The only reason we are here is to protect your babies,” Jackson says, “and the teachers, so they can teach your babies.”

  At the end of the day, the No. 1 job for a school security officer is to run towards a threat and try and eliminate it. It is not for the feint of heart, but then again, neither is Rikers Island, New York City’s notorious jail complex.

Because he spent 20 years working on the island, it may be hard to imagine Figueroa, a Puerto Rico-born, Bronx-raised retired corrections officer, being afraid of much.

A graduate of Norman Thomas High in Manahattan, Figueroa and his best friend both were attracted to being New York City cops. While his friend became a police officer, however, Figueroa decided to go the correctional officer route.

His first real job was at Rikers. He started at the Otis Bantum Center (OBC), and spent time working in some of the island’s other nine jails before transitioning to a transportation officer, hauling the bad guys back and forth.

Only six months into his job in 1990, Rikers Island erupted into a riot after an inmate assaulted an officer. That year, there were 2,500 violent incidents on the island.

“Pretty hair raising,” says Figueroa. “I was only one year in, and that was an eye opening experience. Luckily, God’s grace stood with me for 20 years.”

He and his wife Yvonne moved to Spring Hill in 2015, and since then, Eugene has spent most of his time fishing. But, the father of two grown children and grandfather to 1-, 7- and 8-year-olds, he, too, was sickened, and driven to apply to be a school security officer, by what happened in Parkland.

Like Jackson, Figueroa sees himself as a mentor to the students, and the first line of defense against any outside danger.

He is a presence during drop off and pick up times, and during the day, walks around campus, eyes always open, the route always varying.

“I’m like a junkyard dog, roaming the property,” he says.

When he peeks in on classrooms at Seven Oaks, he’ll flash a big smile or a thumbs up, with teachers and students often replying in kind. The school, he says, as have most of the parents, has warmed up to his presence. “Some are receptive, some aren’t and that’s okay,” Figueroa says. “They’re going to love me at the end of the day when I’m the one taking a bullet for one of their kids, God forbid.”

Wright also hopes that never has to happen for any of his fellow security officers, but he has spent his whole life preparing for it.

He joined the military in 1986 after graduating from high school. He was Military Police, and was stationed in Germany from 1986-94, and when he returned to Augusta, GA, he joined a Special Reaction (or SWAT) team.

After leaving the military in 2000, Wright became a high-threat diplomat security contractor, working in Bosnia and Kuwait, and, for 16 years, in Iraq.

In 2016, he traded in that stressful career for a local security job in the hopes of settling down with his fiancée.

When the Parkland shootings took place, his first reaction was to think of a way to help. The school security job allows him to do that.

“I can tell you that every person in my class, and we started with 58, everyone either had grandchildren or children and all felt as strongly as I did about being here and taking care of our younger generation,” Wright says.

After his training. Wright chose to be stationed at Veterans Elementary, because he is a veteran who wanted to settle down in Wesley Chapel.

He says the transition to spending his days around the kids he is responsible for protecting is “wonderful.”

On his first day, he arrived to find “Welcome to the team, Roy” written on a dry erase board on the wall behind his desk, which is in a hallway. He has no plans to wipe it off.

“From day one, everyone has been so supportive,” he says.

The kids call him Mr. Roy, or Mr. Security, which makes him laugh.

He is always on the move, checking gates and doors, and keeping a close eye on the school playground, which faces S.R. 54.

“There were some parents who were skeptical,” Wright says. “I had a father tell me, ‘Mr. Roy, initially I wasn’t very fond of the program, but I travel (S.R. 54) here periodically and to see you standing outside the playground like you do, taking care of our children
.well, I want to apologize and say thank you.’”

The kids at the school have taken notice as well. One little boy, Wright says, came up to him a few weeks ago and asked why he hadn’t seen the security officer that day during recess. Wright had been in a meeting, and the boy had noticed that the footprints Wright usually left near the playground weren’t there.

“I missed you out there,” the boy said.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” Wright replied.

The moment cemented what he had hoped going in — that his presence would be felt, and would make everyone feel safer.

That feeling is likely pervasive across not only Wesley Chapel, but also across Pasco County and the state. While Figueroa, Jackson and Wright wish the jobs they have and love weren’t necessary, they feel strongly that they are.

“I’m wholeheartedly into this program and feel strongly about it, but it is unfortunate that it is a necessity now,” Wright says. “It’s a shame our children have to be protected by a person like me, or a sheriff’s officer or police officer. But that’s what we’re here for, and that’s what we will do.”

Explorations Program Broadens Students’ After-School Experiences

Students in Wiregrass Elementary’s Explorations program get after-school enrichment in topics they want to learn more about. This quarter, the students could choose from coding and robotics or a dance class. Pasco County Schools hopes to expand this after-school program to other schools in the district.

When the school bell rings at the end of the day, some kids head home while others go to an after-school care program.

At Wiregrass Elementary in Wiregrass Ranch, dozens of students head to something totally different — a new pilot program called Explorations, which offers them a type of after-school club to learn something new.

Offered for the first time this fall, parents could sign their children up for either dance classes or coding and robotics. The seven-week sessions give them an opportunity to dive into a new skill, get some exercise or maybe even make new friends.

Steve Williams is the principal at Wiregrass Elementary, which is in its third year. It opened as a new school in 2016.

“We have a really engaged and invested community,” explains Williams. “Many parents have said they were interested in enrichment opportunities both in and out of school to go deeper into a topic.”

He started looking for ways to do that and thought partnering with the organization that already provides before- and after-school care for Pasco County Schools, called PLACE — which stands for Pasco Learning & Activity Centers of Enrichment — might be a good fit for a partnership.

Williams says that he approached the district’s After School Enrichment Department, which came up with a plan to launch the program this fall.

Carlotta Mathis is the Enrichment Specialist in that department who now heads Explorations and other programs. She was previously the site manager for Wiregrass Elementary’s PLACE program, so she knows the school well.

Mathis explains that Wiregrass Elementary parents were surveyed to determine the level of interest and what topics parents wanted.

“Parents want their students to be in something extracurricular after school but didn’t necessarily need care for the length of time of PLACE,” says Mathis, “but they did want students to participate in special interest cubs.”

So far, Explorations has been a hit.

Wanda Cook is the school’s bookkeeper and her son, Ethan, is in the fourth grade at Wiregrass Elementary.

“My husband and I wanted Ethan to be able to learn more about coding and robotics,” says Cook. “We think long term that will be great for him.”

Ethan says he enjoys it.

“We are learning about algorithms and how to program stuff, and how to fix it if you do something wrong,” Ethan says. “I like it because I get to learn new things and I get to learn how to program robots.”

Parents love the convenience of having the Explorations program being offered on the school’s campus.

“It’s nice that he doesn’t have to leave the school and go somewhere else,” says Cook.

Julie Cocozziello says she moved to Wesley Chapel this summer. Since her daughter, Emma, who is in the first grade, is a new student, she thought Explorations would be a good way for Emma to have fun and meet more of the students at her new school. She chose the dance class for her daughter.

“It’s a wonderful program,” she says. “It’s a great way to get students involved and make friends and improve their self-esteem. It gives her a chance to have fun, and she even comes home and practices.”

The classes for the first quarter filled up quickly, and registration is now open for the planned second-quarter classes —Spanish and sports skills and drills.

“We selected the courses that would be offered based on the survey results and what the families want to see their kids involved in,” Mathis explains, noting that Wiregrass Elementary’s staff plans to offer one academic and one physical activity each quarter.

Sara MacKnight registered her two kids — Sophia, who is in first grade, and Adam, who is in kindergarten — for the coding and robotics class.

“My kids think they’re just playing games, but they’re learning about algorithms and sequences,” she says. “The fact that they’re getting exposed to this at such a young age — I love it and I wish they would offer it year round.”

Williams and Mathis agree that if parents want it — and they seem to — the program can be expanded at the school so that students can build on the skills they’ve learned in the first session. In addition, from the beginning, they’ve discussed how it could be replicated at other schools.

“It’s been a very positive program,” says Williams. “Many others at the district have seen this and love the idea.”

Mathis says other schools are welcome to survey their parents for interest, and if the survey shows that the interest is there, she is willing to work with the schools to bring the Explorations program to them, too.

To register for the next set of classes, which starts Tuesday, October 23, visit ExplorationsProgram.com.