There were five wooden chess boards atop the union tables last Wednesday afternoon. When he saw them, senior Os Nakayama’s face lit up and he exclaimed, “We have chess boards — it’s a start.”
One can find Hillsdale’s new club playing chess in the union Wednesday afternoons. Last Wednesday the players used wooden boards that the Student Activities Board had in storage.
After its first three meetings, the chess club has only a few members, but hopes to attract the rest of Hillsdale’s chess-playing community by playing in clear sight for students to notice said club president and founder, sophomore David Peters.
“Eventually it would be great to be in AJ’s, just a really chill time where people can just stop by,” Peters said. “That’s my vision for it.”
Peters, along with sophomore Linnett Mbogo thought of the idea simply because they both love playing the game. Peters quickly took action as he sought an advisor, William Abram, math professor, and gaining approval from the administration. The club has established Peters as president, Mbogo as vice president, Nakayama as treasurer and junior Mary Clare Smith as secretary.
Peters, as well as all of the other club members, have never competed in a chess tournament, but have played since they were young.
“It was a game I always played with my family,” said Nakayama. “It was a good way to beat them out intellectually.”
Though Abram said the club could eventually compete in tournaments, he thinks that for now, it’s all about students of any level coming out to have fun.
“I’ve played since I was little, but I mostly just like to tinker around,” Smith said. “I’m not very good, but I like strategy games.”
Abram said that it is easy to learn the basics and begin playing.
“It is a deep game and one can truly never stop learning,” he said. “At the elementary level, it teaches strategic learning and creative thinking- two highly transferrable skills. At a higher level it’s a game of memory and recognition.”
Abram has been interested in chess since he played in high school. Today, one of Abram’s best friends is a professional chess player. According to Abram, professional chess players have a lot in common with taxi drivers as they both use geospatial reasoning. Just as taxi drivers memorize routes in a city, chess players memorize board routes and moves that they use when they play.
