Dear Editor:
I am a student at John Black Public School. Recently there has been an incredible surge in a classical, but sometimes forgotten game. That game would be chess.
Chess.com, one of the largest chess platforms in the world, went from 25 million members in 2018 to 100 million in 2022 – that would make it quadruple in just a four-year time period. It is still standing strong with hundreds of thousands people online daily.
But where did this start? Well, it was a combination of things like the release of the hit show The Queen’s Gambit in 2020 and being a huge success followed by the pog champs – an event with popular streamers being paired with top chess players with the task to improve and compete against each other at the end if a two-week period.
But where am I going with this? Well I think we should invest in a chess teacher for the Fergus Chess Club and, in the near future, maybe even a tournament to get everyone involved and enjoying the classical game of chess, using their critical thinking, focusing on the game, rather than being on their phones.
And who knows? Maybe older, long-term players will want to get back into the game and try to challenge the up and coming talent of Fergus.
So what do you say? Lets come together as a community and shine the light on the game of chess.
Sawyer Nind,
Fergus