Beginning on February 27, the Fieldston Chess Club – run by club presidents Louis Goldberg (Form VI), Kieran Eldredge (Form VI) and faculty advisor Mr. Carey – hosted a Bughouse Chess Tournament. Its results continue to pend.
Bughouse chess, an alternative to traditional chess, consists of four players divided into two teams of two players. The “allied teams” strategize to defeat their two opponents by putting one or both of their opponents in checkmate or hoping time runs out, and by doing so, sometimes use their partner’s pieces to advance in the game. This year, 36 people signed up through the Chess Club, with the roster of Fieldston students and teachers, with and without prior experience. According to club leader Goldberg, the Chess Club organized the tournament because, “Kieran and I wanted to connect the community through chess so we chose a fun, less intense version of chess. We wanted it to be open for everyone.” Goldberg and Eldredge decided to pair up the players based on their skill levels, doubling up an advanced player and an inexperienced player to ensure equal probability of any team winning.
Every Tuesday during the Activities period, the Chess Club gathered at the Tate Library tables, with its focused players ready to make their next move. And, with the Bughouse Tournament gaining more attraction, Fieldston students swarmed the Tate, intensely observing the many continuous rounds of games. Each team played 5-minute blitz games, resulting in one of the teams advancing to the next round and the other out of the tournament. Ben Ni (Form VI) said, “Special tournament, special people and great game.” Additionally, Mali Gilbert (Form VI) remarked, “The bughouse chess tournament allowed me to try chess in an enjoyable and slightly competitive way without the pressure tournament chess entails. I also liked how the leaders chose the pairs so that you could work with someone you may not know.” The tournament allowed new players to dabble in chess and created meaningful memories with the Fieldston community.
The tournament resulted in a five-way tie: Harrison Schulte (Form VI) and Math teacher Robert Bruckner, Ben Ni (Form VI) and Uri Nahum (Form IV), Jake Karpati (Form VI) and Tyler Rogers (Form VI), Layla Finn (Form III) and Ryan Zhang (Form II) and Nikash Das (Form VI) and Alex Schoenwaelder (Form III). Oh, and by the way, the Chess Team remains undefeated this season so also pay attention to the team’s “next moves!”
