Checking in on the BCHS chess team

Chess is an immersive 1v1 board game that requires high strategies and patience. The rules of chess may seem simple, but it requires deep thinking. Each player has sixteen pieces. These pieces are often black and white so there is no confusion during the match. The white player makes the first move and then from there, the game begins. The goal in these matches is to attack your opponent’s King piece with no way to escape, also known as a checkmate. This will cause the match to end and a win for whoever checkmates. The match can also end with a draw. Consenting to a draw is when there is no way to achieve a checkmate. This year at Boulder City High School, students have decided to take on this challenge of creating a chess team.

Boulder City High School is known for their school spirit and exceptional participation in clubs and sports. In their cafeteria they have a chess board out for students to play that has an overwhelming amount of student interactions. This sparked the idea to build a chess team. Mr. Cordero is the coach for this club. He has been working at BCHS for four years and is thrilled to be able to run a club. Coach C has always felt passionate about this strategic game, starting this hobby while he was in junior high and he has since played sporadically throughout his life. He expresses how difficult it was to find people to play with in person - until now! Their chess team is currently a part of the CCSD Chess Tournament League. This league contains over 20 schools. Their division includes schools like Foothill, Green Valley, and SECTA to just name a few. Each player plays one 30-minute match against a player from another team. The team that won the most boards wins that meet.

“Our main focus is to make progress, support, and enjoy,” Cordero said.

Their season has been flying up the charts! Players have been keeping at it in their practices, working their brains nonstop. Their practices consist of building and improving their skills by competing against each other for an hour roughly four times a week. Senior Matthew Findley, one of BCHS’s dedicated members of this club, provided copious amounts of information on the chess team. There are different seats for students when they have matches going from most intermediate to beginners. The student seating breakdown is: Jack Tomas at seat one, Nathaniel Tucker two, Jacob Croft three, Matthew Findlay four, Jaxson Ranney five, Sean Edwards (filler), and Robert Crowl (filler). Filler players are people who can fill in a spot if one of the starting people is missing. These young men have been doing an outstanding job so far in their tournaments. Matthew vocalizes that, “Competing is fun and exciting. You never know what your opponent is going to do, making it a thrill.” Their team is small, but they are mighty when it comes to attacking the board. They welcome any student interested in competing alongside them and encourage people to join. There is a chess team who goes and competes, and a chess club which is more for amusement. As of right now, the chess team is placed fourth for the playoffs. In the playoffs they will face Clark High School (first seed) who have won five straight championships. We wish Boulder City High School’s chess team a lucky strike for their upcoming tournament on the 21st. Go knock ‘em down and get some checkmates!