Spring Chess Tournament 2024

By: Jeremy Shishkin '25

Last week, the SOCES Chess Club partnered with ASB to host a schoolwide Chess tournament! The tournament took place every day from April 15th to April 19th at Center Circle during lunch. This was the first official championship hosted by the chess club at SOCES and was organized through a Google Sheets sign-up on Schoology. 

Brackets were formed based on the skill level and grade of the players, and the tournament was played in a traditional round-by-round elimination format with no losers bracket. Competitors also played their games with professional chess clocks and were each given 10 minutes for their game. 32 players signed up; however, only one was expected to be the chess champion.

After a few intense matchups, the last round of the tournament took place on Friday and the final two competitors were David Papikyan and Artem Yalanskyi. The Chess Club sponsor, Ms. Crockett, allowed the final match to be played on her own chess board, adding intensity and suspense to the game. With the chess clock set up, an audience spectating, and a prize on the line, the players began their game. 

As the last few minutes passed, David was in a tough position. Both players still had strong pieces on the board, but David’s King was pressured to the very left end of the board with Artem’s Queen. With a couple of more moves, Artem secured the checkmate with his Rook and was crowned champion. By the end of the game, both players still had about 5 minutes and 40 seconds left on their chess clocks, so it was a quick game. Artem was awarded a medal, a 25-dollar Amazon gift card, and bragging rights! 

 SOCES ASB and Chess Club worked extremely hard to bring this week-long tournament to the students, and have agreed to hold more competitions like these in the future! Signups for future games will be posted on Schoology, so be on the lookout. In the meantime, if you want to practice your chess skills, make new friends, or even learn how to play chess, come to Chess Club where they meet every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch by the blacktops (in the PE area) under the shade.