Checkmate on recognition
By Allyson Kim and Jio Jeong
Edited by Sarah Park
Design by Nicole Yang
Edited by Sarah Park
Design by Nicole Yang
“Checkmate!” is what you would hear coming excitedly from a player in a chess game. Chess is a famous, two player game that requires contemplation on strategies. Being a popular game around the globe, chess is played in households, schools, clubs, internet, and competitions. Played on a checkered board with eight-by-eight squares, it involves 16 chess pieces, which consists of one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns, that all have distinct ways of movement. The goal of the game is to capture the king of the opponent side.
Chess has been recently added to the SIS curriculum and is met with enthusiasm. Students who are interested and passionate about chess, have opportunities to join the chess club during the elective period and participate in the KAIAC, chess tournament. The chess club is led by Mr. Brodhead with several students, which consists of many 7th graders and two 8th graders. The greatest opportunity in the chess club is that the students will be able to compete with each other and play numerous games of chess every other day for a semester. Real matches and experience is the best way to learn and improve. In 8th grade, Andrew Han and Noah Chang are ardent chess players and the first place winners in the junior varsity section of the KAIAC chess tournament, each in 2013 and 2014. Noah described KAIAC as a “great opportunity for observing players who have advanced skills and various techniques and playing against people of different abilities.” Both Andrew and Noah are skilled players, who take it both as a serious sport and a playful hobby. Being enthusiasts of chess, Andrew enrolls into as many competitions that he can find, both of them practice online, and Noah goes to an academy called iChess, where they teach students specific techniques and help you develop skills. Both of them exclaimed that they would recommend chess to their middle school peers, and strongly wish for the increasing recognition of chess in SIS, as a sport. Chess is not widely played among middle school SIS students. However, once students discover the charm in the sport, they will quickly become enticed. Noah described the beauty of chess as a “fun, strategy game that helps you in acceptance into a good college,” and Andrew stated that the game “improves your IQ and EQ.” Chess, a competitive and intellectual game, will gain popularity among students in the future. |
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