Mo McConnell
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At eight years old, Griffin McConnell underwent a third brain surgery to treat his life-threatening epileptic seizures. The operation disconnected the left side of Griffin’s brain, limiting function for half of his body and forcing him to relearn how to do basically everything.
Long before he could walk or talk again, Griffin was back to playing chess with his younger brother, Sullivan.
“Even though there was no speaking, it felt like I could still communicate with him,” Sullivan recalls. “He was still in there.”
Chess has bonded the brothers for as long as they can remember. Today, the Golden residents are both national masters and have won the Colorado State Chess Championship a combined sixteen times. Now, 21-year-old Griffin and eighteen-year-old Sullivan are taking their talents to a world stage.
Griffin and Sullivan were both selected to represent Team USA in the FIDE Chess Olympiad for People with Disabilities, making up two-fifths of the national team.
The international event is described as the Paralympics of chess. From October 19 to 26, players from 35 teams around the world will gather in Astana, Kazakhstan to compete. It is only the second chess olympiad for people with disabilities, with the first taking place in 2023 in Serbia.
Following Griffin’s fourth and final brain surgery in 2021, a hemispherectomy to remove half of his brain, he has chronic headaches and limited movement in his right hand and leg, at times requiring a wheelchair to get around. He says chess is an ideal sport for him because of its quiet atmosphere and intellectual nature, rather than physical.
“My disability doesn’t shine whenever I’m playing chess,” Griffin says. “There are moments when my disability goes away whenever I’m playing chess.”
Sullivan has autism, post-traumatic stress disorder and clinical depression. He says he struggles with black-and-white thinking and being an emotional player, previously suffering panic attacks during chess matches. However, the way Sullivan’s mind works helps him dedicate himself completely to the sport, he explains.
“I give the game everything I have,” Sullivan says. “Chess gives me something to focus on. I can almost overwhelm my senses and that makes me feel better. …The only real way I was able to distract myself from what was happening to my brother early on in my life, and also when I was struggling in other aspects, was chess.”
Sullivan has won the Colorado State Chess Championship eleven times. He currently ranks second in Colorado and 249th nationwide, according to the U.S. Chess Federation. His national ranking jumps to ninth among other eighteen-year-olds.
Griffin is a five-time Colorado State Chess Champion, ranked fourteenth in the state and 1,134th nationwide. He will be the captain of Team USA at the olympiad.
The other players on Team USA are eleven-year-old Celine Atassi of North Carolina, 44-year-old Justin Sarkar of New York, and 51-year-old Michael Aigner of California.
“I’m super, super humbly proud of them,” says Kevin McConnell, Griffin and Sullivan’s father. “We’re a pretty close family because of everything we’ve gone through, and chess is an absolute lifeline. …[My wife and I] are so excited for them to have this opportunity.”
palschess.com
Kevin says he dabbled in chess as a child but had long abandoned the game by the time Griffin took an interest at age four. Kevin taught him how to play, and when Sullivan was old enough, he quickly followed suit.
Chess is now a family affair. Today, Kevin is president of the Colorado State Chess Association and runs PALS Chess Academy, a business that operates after-school chess programs at 65 local schools. Griffin and Sullivan both work as coaches at PALS, teaching children to play the game.
Griffin and Sullivan say their mother, Kori, and their fifteen-year-old sister, Moira, are not interested in the sport, but they are still their biggest champions.
“Sure, chess is a game played by yourself,” Sullivan says. “But in order to achieve anything like what me and my brother have, it is impossible without a good support system.”
The brothers have helped each other achieve success, as well, inspiring one another to push further through their sibling rivalry. Griffin jokingly laments that Sullivan surpassed him when he had his final brain surgery, though Sullivan says it was “a close race” between them for a decade.
Sullivan now ranks higher than his older brother, but when it comes to playing each other, Griffin has the winning record — by one single game.
They hope their bond will give Team USA an edge in the olympiad, balancing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Regardless of the outcome, however, they’re grateful to share this experience.
“That’s probably my favorite part, knowing that my brother will be there with me,” Griffin says. “Chess is a psychological sport; it messes with your brain, especially if you lose. But knowing that my brother’s always supporting me and I’m always supporting my brother, I think it’s magical.”
