All that should have been heard was the soft click of plastic pieces as an unfortunate pawn, knight, bishop or rook was removed from the chess board.

But the cafeteria at Hillcrest Elementary School was not that quiet as Raghu Rajaram and Adithya Sundar of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, chess team simultaneously played 18 members of Hillcrest's chess club after school April 1.

The club members, students in grades two through five, freely offered their suggestions, evaluations and encouragement to each other while the two UMBC students moved up and down the two tables lined with paper boards and plastic pieces.

The comments did little to stave off the inevitable defeat.

Eventually, each student would stand up and shake the hand of either Rajaram or Sundar on a game well played.

Most would then head over to a side table to collect a plate of cookies, carrots and pretzels, then return to see a comrade vanquished.

Fourth-grader Tobias Wack was the last to succumb.

He admitted he was "a little" intimidated and "kinda" nervous, but still confident he might pull out a victory.

At a third table, second-graders Max Donegan, Luke Dongarra, Jack Eiswert and Charles Padgett, the youngest and least experienced members of the club, faced middle school interns Jake Bredeck and Gabe Noble.

Padgett was able to hold out the longest.

Both he and Wack received a round of applause from their opponents, fellow club members and parent volunteers at the afternoon's end.

"The kids have been clamoring for this," said Dorothy Noble, who helped found the after-school program with fellow parent Cici Bower. "There's a waiting list.

"When we didn't have it in the fall because we didn't have a teacher, the kids were so upset," Noble said. "They couldn't wait for the spring."

Noble's son, Gabe, and fellow sixth-grader Bredeck both said they were happy to join the program to earn service hours and to give back to a school they both attended.

"That first chess class, the kids didn't even know how to move the pieces," Bredeck said. "Now, it's amazing to see how good they are."

Rajaram, a mainstay with the program, according to Dorothy Noble, agreed that watching the students' progress has been rewarding.

"You start from nothing and bring them up to a certain level, it's interesting to see how they develop," said the senior, who is majoring in computer science. "The whole learning process is interesting."

Sundar, a junior majoring in biochemistry, is in his first year helping the Hillcrest program.

"I remember how I learned when I was a kid," said Sundary, who grew up in Montgomery County. "I started when I was 4 or 5, played my first tournament when I was in kindergarten. I loved it the second I started.

"There's a lot of problem solving. Every position is a new problem."

Rajaram, who said he played in his first tournament as a fourth-grader, said he liked the many possibilities chess offered.

"There's a lot of logic, a lot of reasoning, but also a ton of imagination," he said. "You work within a rigid environment, but you can still be real creative."

During the tournament, the Damascus High School graduate and his partner would often offer a silent smile or nod of encouragement to their opponents, second-graders Joshua Arndt, Michael Bowler, Joe Laquatra and Drew Stone; third-graders Will Bredeck, Will Ford, Joseph Harrell, Teddy Plisko, Ryan Wiles; fourth-graders Ethan Alioto, Joe Capka, Ethan Hayes, Lian Llorin, Jordan Llorin, Joey Weiss and Tobias Wack; and fifth-graders Ben Ames and Adam Metzbower.

And, despite the noise in the cafeteria, their message was heard.

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