Th Life Story of Landon Brownell

Tucson Region
Life stories : Catalina Foothills graduate was a master — at chess and life
By Kimberly Matas
arizona daily star

Tucson, Arizona Published: 05.01.2009

On the chess circuit he was known as the “suit kid,” but to family and friends he was Landon Brownell, a former high school chess whiz with nerves of steel and plans to become an attorney.

Catalina Foothills High School chess coach Robby Adamson first saw Brownell play almost 10 years ago. The then-fourth-grader stood out from other competitors at a local chess tournament because he was wearing a suit and tie. Not knowing the boy’s name, Adamson dubbed him the “suit kid.”

The designation stuck.

Brownell was ranked as a national master and was the driving force of Catalina Foothills’ three national high school team titles in four years, his coach said. After graduation last year, Brownell tested out of college and moved to California, where he was in his second year of law school, said his father, Roger Brownell.

It was while driving back to his California home April 21 from a family wedding in Tucson that Brownell fell asleep at the wheel and was killed in a car crash. He was 19.

Brownell, one of five children who all played chess, moved to Tucson from Oregon with his family when he was 10.

Chris De Sa met Landon Brownell when they competed together on Orange Grove Middle School’s chess team. Later, the teens played together on the Catalina Foothills’ team.

“He was a very strong player, even back in middle school,” De Sa said. “He was probably the strongest player on our team.

“He was very resourceful and very precise. Even though when he was younger he didn’t really understand certain aspects of the game the same way all of us did in middle school, as he got older he gained a lot deeper understanding of the game than others did,” De Sa said.

De Sa and fellow Catalina Foothills’ teammate Vaishnav Aradhyula, both students at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., said Brownell was a strong tactical player.

When Brownell first started playing chess competitively in Tucson, he and Aradhyula were on different teams.

“We were always competing against each other for state championships,” Aradhyula said. “We were still competing at an individual level (in high school), but by that time we were also pushing each other to make our games better. We did have different styles of play, and that was very good. I played countless practice games with him and that really helped me.

“He was a really good teammate. We would help each other with opponents, strategizing. It was really nice to have my chief rival for the past six years on the same team with me,” he said.

Brownell was ranked as a national master, Adamson said, and he helped Catalina Foothills win three national high school team titles — in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

“Making master while in high school was quite a significant feat,” Adamson said. “It’s a very impressive accomplishment for him. Once you crack 2,200 as a rating, you are then considered a master. Most players never make master. Never. They don’t even come close.

“He was a really tough competitor. He was difficult to beat. He was one of those players who didn’t beat himself, either.”

Brownell won the Arizona high school championship twice, and he won the national chess title in 2006.

That same year, he won the national high school Go championship tourney.

The game of Go originated in China more than 4,000 years ago. Two players alternate in placing black and white stones on a large ruled board, with the aim of surrounding territory. “The game rewards patience and balance over aggression and greed,” according to the American Go Association Web site.

“He was one of those kids — once he put his mind to something he really flourished,” Adamson said. “Whatever he did, he did well. He was a very determined kid and a really good competitor and he was a gentleman. He was very gracious, a good sport, just a wonderful human being.

“He was the ultimate team player.”

Source: http://www.azstarnet.com