The Chess Club is supervised by Mr.Benjamin Scarborough and student-run by seniors Braxton Victor, Ian Huth, and Jasmine Owens. The group has started a new year by teaching new members the ways of chess every Friday from 2 to 3:25.
Huth said, “the club has been trying to get funding and tournaments going for anyone who wants to participate in them.” Last year in the spring, the Chess Club had an organized tournament by math teacher Mr. William Wardle that was county-wide. Kids from all over the county came to North Hartford to play chess. The tournaments were played using brackets like in March Madness to help create an engaging experience. There are also plans for that to be happening again.
Huth also talked about the use of 3 or 4 person chess boards and how the club is learning how to use them. The club is still in search of 4 person boards, however, it has gotten a hold of a 3 person board.
Chess Club helps bring together memories of learning chess. The game helped bring Huth and Owens closer to their families and spend time with them. This is part of the reason they joined the club and enjoy the game of chess. On a poll taken of the students at NHHS, the school is split nearly 50/50 on whether they like chess or not.
Owens said that she has been in the club for a couple of years and said she “thought that it would be interesting to be a part of the leadership and so, why not?” Owens also added that her favorite thing about Chess Club is “Being able to relax after a long week, even though its brain works with good people.”
The organization was originally started by Solomon Brundridge during Covid with the use of an online program to play chess virtually with each other. When school finally returned to normal, the club could take place in person with a start of donated boards and members bringing in snacks.
