Ineligible players occasionally show up in athletic events, but the S.C. Independent School Association has never before seen an ineligible chess player compete.

Until now.

In the wake of last month's SCISA State Chess Tournament held in Orangeburg, Bowman Academy has returned its second-place trophy and won't play the game competitively for a year. Chess team sponsor Ryan Davis, the pastor of a local church, has resigned his teaching position at the school.

"We're dealing with young people here, and we have to send the message this is not tolerated," SCISA Executive Director Larry Watt said.

Davis admits he substituted his son for another player. But he didn't mean to do anything unethical, and he certainly didn't mean for him to win.

One bad decision led to another that day, he said. "I didn't know he was good enough to win a trophy."

He's apologized for the event, which "embarrassed me and embarrassed members of my church," he said.

During the Nov. 13 chess tournament, 86 participants representing 15 schools faced off across the chess board for six rounds. At the end of the day, five players tied with the same number of points, leading officials to decide who got trophies based on a computer scoring process.

Bowman Academy took home the second-place trophy. But when SCISA officials arrived at their office the following Monday, they found the Bowman Academy headmistress in their parking lot with the trophy.

She told officials that another child played under the name of a Bowman Academy student. Davis allowed his son to play in the Bowman Academy student's place when the student wasn't able to show up for the match.

The student who did not show up was not aware of the substitution, officials say.

While SCISA does allow substitutions at matches, Davis' son is home schooled and not eligible to play, Watt said.

"It was as big a shock to the school as it was to us. .. To the school's credit, they were horrified."

What made it most unusual was the nature of the event, he said. "It was like, 'A chess tournament?'"

"The stakes for a chess tournament and the stakes for an athletic tournament are not equitable. ... Chess is not high-pressure," Watt said.

The school received a financial penalty and is suspended from chess tournaments for a year, Bowman Academy Headmistress Ada Smith said. Neither she nor SCISA would reveal the amount of the financial penalty.

The chess club will continue, however, with a new sponsor, Smith said. "The chess club is a good thing. We just cut back on the activities."

"Bowman Academy regrets this unfortunate incident, and such action is not condoned and will not be tolerated," she said.

Davis said he made a bad decision that day. Bowman Academy prepared to have 13 students compete, but one was unable to show up.

His son came along that day, not expecting to play, Davis said. He decided to let his son play one match while they waited to see if the missing student showed up.

"We didn't take him as a ringer," Davis said.

One thing led to another, and Davis' son continued to play. And win.

Davis said one of the organizers told him if there was a tie, they'd have a playoff. He prepared to have his son throw the match.

But instead of a playoff, they fed the names into a computer to come up with rankings. And Davis' son came in second.

Davis says he was embarrassed.

"I did not intend for it to happen this way. ... I did not intend to win a trophy. I had one kid missing and one extra kid standing by," Davis said. And he says, it being his first SCISA event, he didn't understand the severity of the problem.

Davis says while members of First Baptist Church in Bowman have forgiven him, others do not understand he did not go into the situation intending to do anything unethical.

"In our society, a person's motives and intent are weighed against what he's done wrong. I need to let everyone concerned know my motive was not to steal a trophy," he said. Initially, he just wanted his son to play until the real player showed up. And he didn't expect his son to win.

"None of that matters. What I did was dishonest," he said.

Davis says the whole event underscores what he's preached in the past: "Be sure your sin will find you out. ... Don't cover up what you've done wrong."

T&D City Editor Gene Crider can be reached by e-mail at gcrider@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5570. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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