Strategies come out at weekly chess

When I arrived at the Cloquet public library for chess club on a Friday afternoon this month, Seth Stevens was the only one there. He bested me at two rounds, and after nearly an hour, with no one else in

sight, we decided Round 3 would be our last. Stevens put me in a quagmire when 10-year-old Orion Pierson entered the scene.

For his benefit, I explained my ultimatum: move my checked king and allow Stevens to infiltrate my weak left flank with one knight or capture his other knight but lose my queen in the process. I chose to save my queen.

"I think that's checkmate," my opponent said as he moved his knight to a position I failed to consider. I ceded the table to Pierson and watched the two engage in a battle of wits.

It was great seeing an intergenerational exchange as Stevens, who is roughly my age, gave Pierson pointers during their matches. It reminded me of playing chess with my dad when I was a little kid.

The community chess club was founded about two years ago to expose more people to chess, library staff said. It slowly gained traction and now sees an average attendance of six people - typically middle schoolers and older gentlemen. This was just a slow day but two is all you need.

Pierson's second match lasted 25 minutes, which was longer than any of mine. At the outset, Stevens explained the three stages of a game and the importance of taking the center of the board and developing pieces during the opening stage.

The young challenger adeptly moved his pieces out of danger and noted how few either captured so far. After trading queens, Pierson side-stepped a check from a rook, but Stevens pursued. The sunlight faded as he backed Pierson into a corner, finally ending the game. The two shook hands.

"It took a while," Pierson said. In a teaching moment, Stevens ran through how the game went and they continued to play until the library closed.

"It's challenging. It makes me really think," Pierson said when I asked for his favorite thing about chess. Stevens likes the patterns of chess and thinks it embodies real world situations of planning.

Whatever reason chess captures your interest, the chess club is free and meets 3:30-5 p.m. Fridays at the Cloquet library.

Noah Beardslee is a new father, Air Force veteran, and part-time freelance writer for the Pine Knot News. He enjoys learning about agriculture, conservation, and infrastructure. You can reach him at [email protected].