How do you play a Scandanivan defense? Or counter the Queen’s Gambit? If you want to learn more about the world of chess, try joining chess club, which had its first meeting on December 3.

While this club has been started and stopped multiple times in recent years, Yatin Marneni, junior and co-founder of chess club, hopes that chess club will be a mainstay club, where students can enjoy playing chess and have fun.

“I wanted to carry on the wonderful experiences of playing chess with friends, with other people in the school,” Marneni said. 

Chess club is meant to be seen as a place to enjoy another person’s company. However, chess usually has a connotation of being a smart person’s club according to Edward Kek, junior and co-founder of chess club. Kek hopes to show people that the club is for everyone.

“Chess is a fun, complex game with infinite possibilities,” Kek said. “Chess is for everyone, no matter your background, IQ, or physique [and] I just hope that everyone has a good time playing a round of chess.”

Since students are unable to gather in person to play chess, the club will be using a website called chess.com, where they can learn new techniques and be able to play with anyone they want. The club will be meeting every Thursday from 3:15 to 3:45 and the Zoom information is included in the flyer.

“Just one of the benefits of chess is being able to enjoy the game,” Kek said. “When people begin to understand why a piece does a certain move, and all the options that you have like openings, theory, and sacrifices, [players] will gain enjoyment superior to any other game.”

Chess has 64 tiles, and every person has the same pieces to start off with. Everyone starts on an equal playing field, and the only way to win is to think of strategies that your opponent cannot counter.

“In chess, you are responsible for the outcome of the game,” Kek said. “If you win, you feel superb knowing that you defeated your opponent by yourself. Everyone starts with the same pieces; what you make with them is up to you.”