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Students surround the table, hushed by the tension. The opponents stare at the chessboard, concentrating hard on what move to make next. Suddenly, everything falls into place, and with a quick placement of pieces, one of the players calls “Checkmate!”
Chess club is just one way that students can enjoy chess. The club is recreational and meant to be more relaxed. There is also the team, which is competitive, and students can compete for big opportunities like IHSA state. No matter how seriously students take chess, they all have personal reasons they enjoy it.
“I like the mental aspect and I like how I get to spend quality time with my friends,” Craven Andaya, junior, said.
Students are able to meet a lot of new people through chess, especially on the club side. It is a casual environment where people can hang out and learn more about the game.
“The nice thing about the way the club is generally run is because it’s much more focused on the social aspect side of things. It doesn’t require any previous knowledge of chess, so it’s a good atmosphere for people to come if they just want to get exposed to chess,” Adam Depew, Chess club adviser, said.
Students who are ready to take it seriously may join the team. The team started the season last month and is preparing to win big awards.
“Some of the goals that we have set are to be more confident in our endgames, develop our strategies for countering different openings, and we’d like to win another sectionals and conference,” Josh Bloodgood, chess coach, said.
With these goals in mind, the team has to prepare mentally to perform at their best in a competition.
“If I just think about the game- the mental aspects of it- I can relax during the game, then will get a better outcome out of it,” Michael Kazak, junior, said.
Another factor that helps them prepare is practice. They practice two days a week, but a lot of the team plays chess on their own time, which can be hard at times when balancing chess with other extracurricular activities. One method that has helped has been the use of digital chess.
“You can play online on your phone during passing periods and during study halls,” Marcus Raule, senior, said.
Chess has gained some popularity in the past few years, and the current team is hoping to see it continue to grow.
“I honestly hope more people continue to play chess. I’m actually really glad that it kicked off during the pandemic, it’s really cool,” Raule said.
