Eagles players walked out of the club lounge at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday defeated and humbled... at the hands of 218 Philadelphia-area school students.

Long snapper Jon Dorenbos, quarterback A.J. Feeley, linebacker Chris Gocong, guard Todd Herremans, punter Saverio Rocca and fullback Thomas Tapeh were on hand for the fourth annual Eagles Youth Partnership Chess Tournament.

The players had the chance play in pickup games and learn some moves from the best young chess players in the city from grades six through 12. The students were part of the Philadelphia Youth Chess Challenge, which is coordinated by After School Activities Partnerships (ASAP) with significant funding by Eagles Youth Partnership. The chess players qualified for the tournament through either outstanding performance in the Philadelphia Scholastic Chess League or a series of free chess tournaments, which are both organized by ASAP.

Over 200 local students thought deeply about their moves Thursday

"I'm actually surprised how good all of the kids are," said Herremans. "I struggled to get a win out of here. I think it's great that they learn a game like this. It makes them concentrate, not just on the next thing they do, but the consequences of that. It doesn't only help them in this game, it helps them in athletics and in life in general. When they're that young it can help them accelerate their minds instead of slowing them down."

Herremans came into the event with a little bit of experience. He learned how to play during his senior year at Saginaw Valley State. He got together with his friends and they studied what each piece does on the board and began to play against each other. The more they played, the more involved they got with strategy. It's very similar to what the Eagles do when they're on the football field.

"You're working with all of the positions on the board," said Herremans. "You're setting up different positions, different attacks. Very similar to setting up an offense or a defense."

Eagles Youth Partnership began to fund chess clubs as part of its initiative to better the lives, health and education of our youth. Sarah Martinez-Helfman, executive director of Eagles Youth Partnership, explained that after-school programs are important because the most dangerous hours for children are between 3 and 6 PM. Echoing Herremans' remarks, Martinez-Helfman sees the parallels between chess and life.

Linebacker Chris Gocong got a little bit of help with his move

"Chess is the best possible thing for after-school because chess teaches about strategy, it teaches about consequences and risk," said Martinez-Helfman. "You have to think about if I move my piece here what might happen and similarly these young people are living in neighborhoods where every decision they make needs to be a good one or it can be life threatening. They need to be thinking about consequences of behavior. They need to be thinking about risk. This is a game that helps them improve their academic performance and helps them stay safe, not just in the after-school program but in their daily lives.

"The young people here might never leave a five-block radius of their neighborhood. A chess tournament at Lincoln Financial Field brings them out of their little moves that they make each day in their lives and gives them a whole different vision of what's possible for them. We're trying to open up an experience and give them a full-board view."

On Thursday, it was all about the chance to give the children an opportunity to compete, have fun, rub elbows with the Eagles and get to check out parts of the stadium that die-hard fans never get to see like the locker room. Most importantly, Thursday's event was about enhancing the lives of children in a safe atmosphere. And along the way, they got a chance to do something other NFL teams have struggled to do - send them home with a defeat.

Learn More About The Eagles Youth Partnership Chess Tournament