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| 04-06-2004 | Previous edition: 04-05-2004 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Chess Club likens game to life: Strategic moves lead to success
Staff Writer A few pawns in the center of the board are more dangerous than they appear. They’re a formation that can limit your choices. To Bernard Parham, a member of the Purdue Chess Club, those options are what make chess and life so similar. "In chess you have all these options but not all of them are good; that’s how chess is a lot like life," Parham said. On Tuesday and Thursday nights the club members meet, carrying cases that hold everything they’ll need for a full night spent enjoying a centuries-old game of strategy. Their cases filled with flexible boards, pieces and clocks, they come ready to play. Together, members hone their skills and review past mistakes. Their bond is their passion for the king of games and a desire to improve. "We have all levels of players from very high to beginners," said club president AJ Pheasant, junior in the School of Agriculture. Serving his second year as president, Pheasant has played chess for eight years and is the club’s resident "trash talker." "It happens," he said, grinning while the rest of the club looks up from their games to complain about his tendency to trash talk. Pheasant will play the occasional head game with an opponent, too. "Reminding them of their past mistakes helps, but often just makes them play harder." He admits, however, that he’s not the best player there. That title falls on Parham, who regularly goes over the other club members’ games, critiquing ones they’ve played online throughout the week. Following printouts of their moves, Parham offers his advice, points out their clever plays and stresses the importance of aesthetics. Often comparing chess to everything from martial arts to warfare, Parham helps the other players focus on the objective of capturing the opponent’s king. "Don’t club him to death," he tells another club member, "Just cut his head off." Parham’s game is played with strategy and a healthy dose of psychology. "You can’t keep anyone from doing something," said Parham, "You need to figure out what they want to do, then adjust so it works to your advantage." This intuition is what separates the supercomputers that have begun to challenge some of the world’s best players from the humans they play against. "It kicks in that there’s something here and I’m going to keep looking until I think I find it," he said. Open to everyone, the club encourages people with an interest in learning the game to come to a meeting. "It would take me about 30 minutes to teach the basics," said Pheasant. Also, the club has planned its second Grand Alternative Chess Simul during the week of Grand Prix to help generate interest in the game on campus. A simul is when one person plays all challengers, taxing his concentration and skills of the game. Generating interest in the game is one of the main goals of the Purdue Chess Club. To help accomplish this, club members get involved off campus by teaching the game to students at five area elementary schools. For more information, visit the club’s Web site at http://expert.ics.purdue.edu/~chess. Printer-friendly version |
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