Chess Club participates in Antioch tournament
Students from Chess Club went to a tournament held by Antioch on Saturday, Nov. 17. Members were able to compete against other teams from around the area and improve their skills.
“There were 5 schools at the tournament. Unfortunately, we came in fifth, so we have a long way to go,” senior Quinn Armstrong said.
At the tournament, students were under a time limit to finish their games, as opposed to at practice when they have unlimited time.
“The competition gave us a more broad array of opponents allowing for different play styles than what we were used to. We also had to learn how to play with the clocks, timers to keep playtime per person at 30 minutes, and notation. Prior to the tournament, we had no experience of donating our moves or working under the time constraints, so it was a unique experience,” senior Jason Cramer said.
Grayslake North competed along with five other schools in Lake County and placed fifth. However, members are still encouraged to improve their skills.
“Since chess is highly skilled-based, it promotes a strong work-ethic due to striving to become a better player. At this specific tournament, there were five schools with six competing teams; Antioch had a JV for exhibition matches,” said Cramer.
Throughout the experience, members still continue to find a love for chess.
“I enjoy meeting people and figuring out the best move,” said Armstrong.
“I enjoy a giant sea of possibilities in chess where most games are completely unique from each other. This prevents chess from becoming boring since there is always a new game that hasn’t been played yet since there are a possible 10^27586, 1 followed by 27,586 zeros, rounds of chess. Having a vast variety and the strengthening of my logic and reasoning skills makes chess very fun,” said Cramer.
