Gazing at a chess board, 13-year-old Jaeden Henry sits crouched over the table, scratching his head as he thinks of his next move.

Jaeden likens chess to “a mini war” of the minds, with the best weapons — critical thinking and strategy — crowning the victor.

After learning the basics from his father at age 7, Jaeden is mastering his game with Howard County police officers Symchay Bendu and David Vo during weekly chess club challenges at the Columbia Association's Youth and Teen Center in the Oakland Mills Village Center in Columbia.

“Typically, when young people meet police officers for the first time, it's because somebody called the police; either someone's the victim or someone's a suspect and it's not a good experience,” said Sgt. Stephanie Wall of the department's Community Outreach Division. “We wanted to change that experience. We wanted to give them the opportunity to engage with us when we're not working [and] we're not in that capacity.”

At 4 p.m. every Monday, Wall said, Bendu and Vo join young chess players, from ages 9 to 16, for matches at the youth and teen center. Wall, nicknamed “Officer Friendly,” said she wanted her fellow officers to share their gifts and talents with youth in the community.

Bendu and Vo didn't hesitate to volunteer, she said. The chess sessions began at the start of the 2015-2016 school year.

Jaeden said he's come to love the challenges in chess.

“You have all your pawns as little soldiers. Then, you have rooks, knights and bishops as special-ability soldiers,” Jaeden said, referring to each piece's use. “The queen is just a really powerful piece. Honestly, I really like the knight because it's the most unique one that can move and go over the others.”

Rene Buckmon, the Columbia Association's Youth and Teen manager, said playing chess has established a connection between young people and police, teaching strategies and consequences of the game.

“Some of these kids love the game, but [the officers] really want them to delve into why they're making that move,” Buckmon said. “You can apply what you're learning to life as well. You make that move, what's going to happen? You decide to pick up that candy from the store, what do you think is going to happen?”

The game also fosters critical thinking, Bendu added.

The detective said he learned to play chess in seventh grade, but quit shortly after because it was “too hard.” Years later, Bendu said, he started playing chess with Vo after work; something he's happy to bring to the community.

“It parallels life. It's a good mental challenge and it's something I really enjoy,” Bendu said. “It's just like in life: You think before you do something and you can be rewarded if it's a good decision.”

Vo said chess also brings art, math and philosophy into the mix, with fundamentals and theories behind every move. Using the squares on the board to travel, Vo said, a player uses their pieces to create advantages during the match.

“With winning positions, you can say you have the material advantage and then it's all numbers,” Vo said. “But, there's also positional advantages, which is what makes chess beautiful because you can throw away all your material on the board and win with an amazing positional advantage.”

Watching the strengthening bond between Bendu, Vo and the community's youth, Wall and Buckmon said Howard County's program to create a relationship between police and youth should serve as a model for other counties and agencies across the country.

“With all that's going on in the nation, unfortunately, the light is not such a positive thing on [police] right now,” Wall said. “We want to make sure the concept [of this relationship] is reality, so when they see police officers, they know that we are the guardians and the protectors.”