A teen chess wiz from Albany takes on 40 opponents at once in a Middletown Chess Tournament. Our Venise Toussaint has the story.

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MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. -- The 3rd annual Middletown Chess Tournament isn't your average game and 17-year-old Deepak Aaron isn't an average player.

“I started playing chess at a very early age, I think at the age of five," said Deepak.

Not only did the chess wiz start playing the strategy based game at a young age, he was beating adults by the time he was eight. On Saturday Deepak took on 40 players at once at a Middletown High School Tournament. He smoothly walked around the string of tables shaking hands with his dozens of opponents both young and old before making his move.

“Preparing is staying loose and free and taking it one game at a time," Deepak said.

It’s the third year he’s traveled from Albany to compete and the second time 12-year-old Adolfo Gomez has traveled from Newburgh to challenge him.

“This guy is really good so win or lose doesn’t matter I hope I have fun,” said Adolfo.

Deepak has competed all over the country but what makes this challenge different each player brought a canned good to be donated to a local food pantry.

“We are trying to get 2000 donations to the pantry in Middletown as you can see people have been very receptive and very happy to come and it’s nice for the community,” said event organizer, Louis Garcia.

Deepak said the game of chess has been passed down for generations in his family. His grandfather, a well known Chess champ in India sparked his interest in the game and he hopes the lessons of perseverance and mental strength he’s learned while playing can inspire others.

“I’ve been blessed with this talent, God’s given me this gift and I want to give back to the community," said Deepak.

“His passion for playing, it’s really amazing how he can play so many people at once and how he can actually win all of them so it’s really amazing and I would like to be just like him,” added Adolfo.