As the semester approaches the final phase of its endgame, the University’s chess club will make its opening move.
The 4-year-old club will hold its first public tournament and its last event of the semester in the Student Union on Sunday.
Club President Matthew Smith, geology senior, said the club has always been tight-knit but is looking to expand its membership by embracing a larger audience.
“I wouldn’t say chess is necessarily popular, but it’s the most popular board game people play competitively,” Smith said.
According to Smith, most chess players learn the game from a family member or a close friend, and even people who aren’t well-versed in the game are at least acquainted with its rules.
Smith was first introduced to the game by his grandfather, but he left his board untouched until high school when classmates rekindled his interest by forming a recreational chess club.
When Smith arrived at the University, the group was a club in name only. It had a Facebook page with a few freshmen and stragglers from its more active days, but it was largely a ghost of what it had once been.
“I posted and found a few people who wanted to play, so we met up and it just grew from there,” Smith said.
The club attracts new members by playing expo games in Free Speech Plaza. The most intense games, the aptly named “bullet” matches, allow players only a few seconds to make their moves before their turns pass.
Mark Morreale, chess club vice president, introduced Smith and other members to bullet chess when he joined the club. His expertise drew attention from the student body and the club grew accordingly.
Morreale is also responsible for establishing the system by which Sunday’s tournament will run.
Unlike most tournaments, which typically feature preliminary matches used to determine seeding for single- or double-elimination brackets, this weekend’s competition will pit people against one another until everyone has played the same number of matches by the time the event ends.
Morreale anticipates participation from many players who have never competed with the club before, so the first matches will be randomized. As matches end and players accrue more victories, he will use software to pair the best players against each other, until one person stands above the rest, a system known as the Swiss-system.
The tournament will operate with standardized chess rules, and every player will be given 30 minutes to play each game. If no player traps his opponent’s king into checkmate, whoever runs out of time first will lose the match.
“Timed matches are pretty standard in this game,” Morreale said.
While the club itself is composed of fierce competitors, including several master-level players, Smith hopes the tournament will attract players of many different skill levels and play styles.
“Anyone can play chess, and with work, anyone can outsmart their opponent. It’s one of the best feelings in the world,” Smith said.
The chess tournament will be held in the Vieux Carre Room in the Student Union from 12 to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Early registration is preferred, but walk-ins are welcome. Contact [email protected] to register.
“Anyone can play chess, and with work anyone can outsmart their opponent — it’s one of the best feelings in the world.”
