The new chess club at Frederick High School is a good opportunity to learn and improve your chess skills and meet new friends! The chess club meets on the first two Wednesdays of the month in Mr. Thomas’s room after school. Anyone can join, even if you don’t have much experience in chess; it’s a space to learn and improve.

The chess club just started a month ago with two students, Dominic Bundy and Archer Holmes. They are now the chess club captains. Archer told the lantern “We wanted to start it because we were playing a lot and thought it would be fun and look good on college applications.” He first started playing in the 2nd grade, and he also mentioned that their goal is to soon participate in and win tournaments and to also reach 30 members. Other chess members I talked to said that they had just recently started playing chess.

Bryan Perdomo, a sophomore at Frederick High School, told us he started playing a month ago; he saw his friends playing and decided to give it a try. Frank started playing earlier this year “just for fun, really,” he stated.

Chess was invented in the 6th century CE; it originated from a two-player Indian war game called Chaturanga. In 1000 A.D., chess started to spread to Europe through Persian traders, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that chess became widely known. Throughout these many years, chess has changed; it has become widely known, and you can now play online with a computer along with other players around the world.

Mr. Thomas, the chess club host, explained that they don’t compete with other schools at the moment but they might in the future. He told us that more people showed up this past Wednesday than last month, and he encourages students to join the club. His goal is that he wants the members to have fun and learn to play.

The chess members play against each other and also online they practice until they improve just like a sport; Mr. Thomas suggested that when they get more practice and skill they will probably start playing with other schools and be more competitive against each other.

The chess club members are very welcoming and friendly. I encourage others to join if they want to improve their chess skills or simply learn how to play. It’s a great space to learn, so don’t be afraid to check it out!