When “The Queen’s Gambit” aired on Netflix, there was a sudden and unexpected increase in interest in the game of chess. During the first month after the mini-series was released, Chess.com, the largest online chess website, gained around two million daily active players. The show was released on Oct. 23, 2020 amidst the first stage of the pandemic. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, millions of people around the globe made accounts on chess websites and played online. 

The chess club meets on alternating Thursdays, and while the traveling team can only have up to five members, there are many more that go to the club recreationally. 

“I like that it runs itself,” Mrs. Bulgrin said. “Students can play each other and know each other’s levels. I am there as a sponsor and to organize.”

The team is ready to play other schools. Senior Jaron Moore has been in the chess club for four years, and he plays the second board for the team, meaning he is the second best player.  

“It’s a lot more fun to play chess over the board than online,” Moore said. “It’s fun to help people when you can’t really do that online.” 

While the chess team plays against themselves, playing without analyzing and getting better is useless. To help with this, the senior members of the team help the younger members after the game to show them what they did wrong and how to not make the same mistakes. 

“We’ve been training hard,” Moore said. “Playing other schools is fun because you don’t know how they play, so it’s nice to have a new experience over the board.” 

The team won their first competition 3-2 against a team of local home school students, with one loss and one forfeit. The team plays Millard North on Feb. 8. When the team cannot play each other, members of the chess team practice individually by reading chess books, solving chess puzzles and analyzing their own games, as well as games from master level players from across the country and world. With the season a semester in the making, the team is ready to make their dedication pay off.