Smart moves
Checkmate!
This is a common phrase in the Hub every Thursday evening as the campus chess club meets to show off their skills. Usually about eight to 10 people come and play from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. each week.
They gather around the tables, pull out several chess boards and pieces and play in about six different styles.
“It’s pretty much the coolest club on campus,” said Karl Nordgren, a junior in economics. “The people there come from all different backgrounds. Sometimes people think that chess is for geeks, but it’s not. We come from all walks of life.”
Nordgren said he heard about the club during a Day on the Quad and decided to join. Since the beginning of the year, he says he’s been able to make some new friends and meet people that are different than him.
The club has a few international students from Peru and Vietnam, said Stephanie Pitcher, who has been in the club for three years. Graduate students are also involved, as well as one member who brings his child each week.
“I’ve met so many friends playing chess,” Pitcher said. “Even though some people think the game is nerdy, there really are socially capable people out there that play chess.”
Pitcher, a junior majoring in English and Spanish, said she has been playing chess since the game was a big thing at her Ogden elementary school. Ever since third grade, Pitcher says chess has been one of her favorite pastimes.
She competes nationally now and said one of her favorite things about playing the game is meeting people from all over the country at tournaments. Pitcher said the club usually tries to attend one tournament during the year to get the experience and just have fun.
Josh Templin, a junior majoring in computer engineering, said this is the first semester he has been involved with the club and said he usually plays two or three games each week when the club meets. He has been playing chess seriously for seven years after he picked up the game on his own.
Templin says he enjoys coming out to chess club and if others want to play, should “just give it a try. Have no fears.”
Everyone is invited to join the club, Nordgren said, and if someone doesn’t know how to play, others will teach them. In fact, chess instruction is another aspect of the club since some members teach children to play chess once a week at Edith Bowen Elementary. A couple of weeks ago, members of the club even hosted a tournament for them, Pitcher said.
There isn’t a fee to join the club, Templin said, and more information about the club can be obtained by contacting Pitcher at stephpitcher@cc.usu.edu or just by showing up at the Hub to play.
“It’s really fun and people are more than welcome to come,” said Nordgren. “Chess will help you to expand your horizons.”