By Makenna Lewis
“I personally love playing chess and wanted to make sure students also had a space to play the game against their peers,” writes Mr. Nicholas Carmona, who has been the sponsor for chess club for the last 3-4 years. “Since chess is normally a 1v1 game, it can be easy to not have a community while playing it. So having a group to play with consistently, I think is always more fun.”
This is what makes clubs essential to every school, especially online ones: a chance to connect with people of the same interests without being overburdened by homework. I went to the same public school my entire life until eighth grade, and, while I was never a part of the chess club, I knew there was one there and wondered how the same thing would function digitally.
With this in mind, I emailed Mr. Carmona.
“As students might expect, chess club is all about playing chess!” he answers. “We have all kinds of different formats, such as Chess 960 King of the Hill, three check, and have even done a version of ‘partner’ chess.” It’s not always the members versus each other, either—Mr. Carmona goes on to mention the tournaments hosted against Khan World School, where the two clubs compete for points.
While all clubs offer this opportunity for fun and interaction between students who might not have crossed paths otherwise, I knew there was something distinctly different about the chess club here at ASU Prep Digital.
“Something that I think makes us unique is our ability to do things based on the wants of individual members,” Mr. Carmona explains. “Since Chess Club is a bit smaller, each member’s voice gets to shine through during each meeting. This looks like being able to vote on the time controls and the type of chess format that we play.”
Another thing that makes each club different is their goal or mission. What do the members strive for? What is the purpose? Why is this club, opposed to others, important to ASUPD?
“I think the biggest goal of the club is just to give students a space to play chess against each other and learn from each other after each game,” specifies Mr. Carmona.
And, if all clubs have a welcoming environment like that, who wouldn’t want to join one?
