Mahel Boyer is a member of the University of Missouri’s chess team, which brought home first place at the U.S. Chess Federation’s President’s Cup on March 22.  

“I’m really happy to have been able to give something back to Mizzou, which has supported me a lot,” Boyer said. 

The tournament, which players call the Final Four, took place on campus at Memorial Union. It brings together the top four teams in North America to face off. 

“It’s a great achievement,” Boyer said. “It means a lot to me, especially since it’s my first year in the U.S. and at Mizzou.” 

Born and raised in France, Boyer is a freshman studying personal financial planning. He decided to come to Mizzou after Ioan-Christian Chirila, the chess team’s head coach, recruited him. 

“He told me about Mizzou and asked me if I would be interested,” Boyer said. “It made me realize it was possible to still do chess and studies, which I was not considering doing in France.” 

The team’s recent victory marks a major milestone. Since its founding in 2019, this is the second time the team has won the national championship. It was also the first time the tournament took place at Mizzou.  

“Winning the national championship is already an amazing feeling, but doing it at Mizzou made it even more special,” Boyer said. “Having support from professors and students made us even more motivated, and we really wanted to bring this title to Mizzou.” 

Chasing the dream of becoming a chess professional 

Chess has almost always been a part of Boyer’s life. The national champion began playing at 9 years old.  

“At first, I was playing a few times a year,” Boyer said. “But just with members of my family.” 

What he originally described as a random board game soon became something much bigger. The turning point happened when his mother, an elementary school teacher, brought him to a chess tournament. 

“My mother was teaching chess to her students,” he said. “She told me she was going to take them to a chess tournament and asked me if I wanted to come.” 

Boyer got the chance to play in that tournament, which marked his first legitimate win. 

“I played well and I qualified for the next event,” he said. “With that, I started to like it even more.” 

Boyer said his love for chess spans from the game’s complexity and competitiveness. 

“You can always improve and it requires a lot of very different skills,” he said.  

Boyer is a grandmaster, which is the game’s highest title. He explained that each chess player has a rating that increases when they win games.  

“When your rating increases to a certain point, you get certain titles,” he said.  

Even though Boyer has reached the game’s highest title, he still aims to increase his rating to qualify for more difficult tournaments. 

“I want to reach a certain level, so I need to play a lot to reach that level,” Boyer said. 

Boyer has played in tournaments all over the world, recently playing in India in a Grandmaster Invitational in February. He’s also visited Mexico and has been to different cities in the U.S., like Chicago and St. Louis. 

“It’s a good experience to visit and see another culture,” Boyer said.  

Looking forward to the future, Boyer’s dream is to play chess professionally. 

“I still think I want to be a chess professional, but I don’t want to play all my life,” he said.  

That’s why he plans to get an undergraduate degree in personal financial planning. Boyer said his love for chess has played a role in deciding what to study. The logical thinking that’s required of a player in chess is also required in the world of financial planning. 

“I can see some similarities between the two,” he said. “You need to plan something, and first before planning, you need to think about the current evaluation of the position.” 

But the classroom isn’t the only place that’s teaching Boyer valuable lessons.  

“One thing chess has taught me is to never resign,” he said.  

Playing chess has shown Boyer the value of resilience and perseverance: Qualities he will always carry with him. 

“I think you can apply that to everything in life,” Boyer said. “Even if things go badly or wrong, you still have a chance. You always have the next game.”