LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Kelseyville native Alexander Stempe reigns today as the equivalent of a chessmaster after ascending to a Pokémon championship at the 2014 Pokémon Winter Regional Championships in Salem, Oregon.

Stempe is one of five Masters Division champions to emerge from hundreds of players across the U.S. who competed in the video game competition held Jan. 18 and 19.

Adding to the significance of his title is who he defeated in the head-to-head finals of the event: a close friend who not only coached Stempe in Pokémon, but spent eight hours driving him to Oregon for the event.

Which may not be the best way to express appreciation.

“He's the one that got me involved competitively when I first got into college,” Stempe said of his friend and erstwhile coach, Tom Oglaza.

“He was frustrated,” Stempe, a 21-year-old fourth-year economics major at UC Davis, said of Oglaza's reaction to the championship match. “But, yeah, it was pretty cool.”

Pokémon, an abbreviation from the Japanese title of Pocket Monsters, is a game that many compare to chess. Others argue it is a game of probability management and strategy while chess is a game of pure strategy. Undeniably, the game has international popularity.

The tournament won by Stempe is the second of three regional tournaments taking place throughout the U.S. and Canada in the 2014 Pokémon Championship Series season.

The next regional in which Stempe will compete will also be in April. With his triumph in the Winter Regional Championships, Stempe qualified for the U.S. National Championships in Indianapolis this summer.

Stempe, who also competes in bowling and racquetball, said he has played Pokemon since its origin “because it was very original and different. I always played it for fun.

“Then I started going to tournaments with one of my friends in college.” Last year, he finished second, losing in the finals.

Overall, Stempe said “I didn't do very well last year. I like my chances a little better this year, although it's hard to tell. I'm up against some stiff competition.”

One of his head-to-head matchers in Salem took eight hours to complete.

There are more than 700 cartoon characters involved in the video game, each with its own function.

“I doubt that I could name them all,” said Stempe.

Email John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .