Seconds pass as small clocks tick in a silent room while tension mounts. High school students from towns across Mo. gather in the silent playing hall, facing off in a tactical game: chess. Junior Santosh...
When sophomore Karthik Dulla’s United States visa expired, he and his family returned to India in October 2021. They planned to stay for a few months while the U.S. approved a new visa. But, when the...
Brinda Ambal, Conceptual Editor-in-Chief
• March 4, 2019
Surrounded by silence, five chess players duke it out against their rival, Ladue High School, in an intense battle on the boards. Four of the five players are seniors Matt Boyd, Jason Wan, Paul Gipkhin...
The game of chess has been around for 1,500 years and played by hundreds of millions of people, but only six players from the Parkway West chess club are going to the state competition on March 17.
“Anyone...
Sophomore Liza Tarakanova, new to playing chess, carefully strategizes her next move while playing one of her first games as part of chess club. When Tarakanova started playing chess last semester, she...
Moving a piece on the chess board, junior Jonathon Janson participates in the schools chess club. Playing two games a day after school, Janson won a third of the games he played. "My favorite chess piece...
![After winning their respective boards and collecting their awards, the chess team stands together, holding their trophies. Sophomore Prateek Nemmali (right) captained the team and led them to an overall second-place finish. “In terms of community, I feel [chess] is a nice team spirit-building thing, especially when playing in team tournaments. It’s competitive, but you feel together when you play the game,” Nemmali said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-900x600.jpg)
![During Ac lab time, sophomore Raj Jaladi plays a game of chess in the library. Jaladi joined the chess club before winter break and has learned different strategies from his peers and YouTube videos. “I think it challenges my intellectual ability and there is a lot to learn. A lot of games there is just an objective to [achieve] but in chess there are variations and it’s an endless ocean,” Jaladi said. “I’ve been playing a lot, maybe too much actually. I’ve made friends with a lot of people in the club and I learned a lot by playing against them.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/DSC_0013-copy-900x681.jpg)
![Focusing in on a new strategy to beat future opponents in an upcoming tournament, chess team captain and senior Matt Boyd draws on his self-made improvements to strategically think through his moves. Earlier in his career, Boyd made moves quicker than he does now; however, he has improved as a player and realized the importance of working through the scenarios. “We have had multiple matches where I spent all of my two hours, and I'm the last one there,” Boyd said. “I'm just so involved [in the game]. I don't think there's any one thing that makes me concentrate more than other people, but I guess it's just that I'm so invested in it.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/DSC_0004-900x600.jpg)
