When playing chess, seventh grader Audrey Lee’s mind quickly scans the board, trying to figure out her next move based on her opponent’s prior move and a guess of what his or her counter move will be.
“It is a fun sport/game to play,” she said. “It helps sharpen my mind.”
It is a strategy with a proven success record, which led the Northwest Middle School student to become one of the top female chess players in the state this spring.
“It is a major deal because there are not a lot of female players in the chess world. It is great to be among them,” Lee said.
Chess is growing in popularity among students nationwide thanks to lockdowns, a hit Netflix show, and coaches and players frequently sharing posts on social media of people playing the game.
When Meridian High School chess coach Scott Farmer started a chess club at the school three years ago, it was mainly to give students another extracurricular activity to take part in after school. He started with seven players, all freshmen.
He picked up a few juniors and seniors the next year, and today his after-school club has formed a competitive team.
“This is the first year that we have actually been competitive. In previous years it has mainly been just a fun hang-out chess club, and now it is a competitive chess team,” Farmer said.
The Mississippi High School Athletic Association classifies chess as an after-school activity, but does not recognize it on the same level of organized competition as cheer, dance, chorus or Esports.
School chess teams, as a result, usually compete in tournaments through the U.S. Chess Association, the Mississippi Chess Association and Mississippi Scholastic Chess Association.
MHS and Northwest Middle both have competitive chess players. Northwest’s team is coached by Daniel Roberts.
“We have individual tournaments where everybody is on their own, and then we have team tournaments,” Farmer said. “With the team tournaments, every player plays a Swiss format, which means you play a random opponent, and if you win, you move in one bracket and if you lose, you go into another bracket. And everybody you play for the rest of the tournament will be in that bracket. But if you win, you get points for you team.”
In March, the MHS and Northwest chess teams traveled to Starkville to compete in the Mississippi Scholastic Chess Association’s team state championships against students from more than 20 other schools across the state.
“For our first time in competition this year, I am very proud of what we have done. We were fifth place in the team competition at the state championships,” Farmer said.
The teams competed in three rounds of Swiss format chess games across multiple age groups and skill levels. The points earned by wins were then calculated after each round for individual play and added to a total team score.
Northwest Middle School finished in fourth place in the kindergarten through eighth grade category. Northwest’s Charleston Rom finished in fourth place in the individual overall K-8 under 700 category.
Meanwhile, MHS chess students finished in fifth place in the K-12 category with sophomore Iris Barnard winning the Top Female Player honor in the K-12 under 700 category.
After their strong showing, five of the Top 20 female chess players in Mississippi were Meridian Public School District students, according to the U.S. Chess Association’s April rankings. Northwest’s Lee was ranked seventh in the state, followed by Meridian High’s Sabrina Davis and Barnard at numbers 10 and 12, respectively. MHS student Eilecia Brown was ranked 16 and teammate Mikaylah Edwards was at 17.
Less than 100 female chess players in the state of Mississippi are ranked, Farmer said.
The male chess players are finding success, too.
Freshman Aaron Walker finished in fourth place in a recent tournament at the Mississippi Children’s Museum-Meridian. Jeremy Roberson, a junior, ended up finishing fourth in a tournament at Meridian High School earlier in the spring after advancing to the championship game.
Many of the chess team players say they began playing when they were young, taught by either a parent, grandparent or other relative. Some learned in elementary school, especially those who were in gifted classes.
“I have always loved chess. When I was about four, my grandfather taught me how to play,” said Roberson, who was one of the first ones to join the chess club.
Roberson enjoys the competition, the strategy behind the game and meeting other players from across the state.
“It is really fun. You get to meet new people, and you get to challenge yourself every day,” he said.
He is known for convincing students, like Barnard, to join the team. On the last day of school her ninth grade year, Barnard ended up in a classroom with Roberson and Brown for the day. They brought out a chess board and were surprised when Barnard said she knew how to play.
“I have known how to play chess since I was in elementary school, but this is my first year on the team,” Barnard said.
She said tournaments can be very stressful “especially if you get paired up against someone who has a higher ranking than you and has more experience.”
She enjoys playing bullet chess even though it is not a format played in tournaments.
“I love bullet chess, where you just play in a minute. That is really fun because you don’t even think about it. You just play,” Barnard said.
Farmer, who played chess in high school, said the great thing about the new-found popularity of chess is that it is introducing more students to the game.
“Chess is for everybody. It’s not for certain people anymore,” he said.