{"id":73178,"date":"2016-07-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=73178"},"modified":"2018-06-20T10:02:52","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T14:02:52","slug":"73178-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/73178-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Building Chess Dynasty at UCF"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lavine Von\u2019s grandfather taught her how to play chess when she was 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a popular game in the Philippines and so he taught me,\u201d said the UCF computer engineering major. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s why it feels so good to play. We were close. He\u2019s been gone for a while now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Von is one of about 100 students in the UCF Chess Club, a registered student organization on a mission. The members want to change the incorrect stereotypes about chess and make UCF\u2019s team among the best in the nation.<\/p>\n

Among the stereotypes: Chess is for math people, it\u2019s just for guys, it\u2019s boring and it\u2019s not cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not true at all,\u201d Von said. \u201cYeah, it can be a little intimidating because most of the members of the club are guys. But they really are a bunch of nice guys who like to have fun playing chess.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club<\/a> numbered fewer than 20 members three years ago, but today has grown to 100. A core group within the club competes at the state and national level. And members are conducting outreach in Orlando to increase kids\u2019 interest in chess.<\/p>\n

\u201cChess is great for helping you develop critical thinking,\u201d said Arnold Banner, a senior and outgoing club president. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be good at math \u2013 that\u2019s a myth. But it (chess) does really help you with strategic thinking, which is good for everyone. And we\u2019re really a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banner, a physics major, joined the club his freshman year of college. It was just a handful of students who were really involved then, he said, but they started to work together to spread the word.<\/p>\n

They began hosting open-play sessions in more public places. This summer they play from noon to 4 p.m. at the John C. Hitt Library every Monday. They partnered with the Orlando Chess Academy<\/a> to help build interest among children. In June \u00a0the club hosted the academy\u2019s Summer Junior Grand Prix in the Student Union. More than 100 children and adults participated. And the club has hosted two state tournaments at UCF.<\/p>\n

In March, the team won the Florida Intercollegiate Spring Classic. UCF defeated teams from UF, FIU and many other schools from around the state. This was the second consecutive year UCF won the tournament. In December, the team took second place at a national competition in Ohio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really want people to understand how valuable chess is and how much fun it can be,\u201d Banner said. \u201cThere are a lot of benefits. Some universities even provide scholarships. We want to get there someday.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least 20 universities across the nation offer chess scholarships of varying degrees, including Texas A&M University-Kingsville and the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Maryland offers a full-ride scholarship including room, board, tuition and fees to master chess players.<\/p>\n

Chess has an organized and complicated system for ranking players. Master players are the top of the pyramid. According to the U.S. Chess Federation, there were only two Florida players under the age of 21 ranked among the top 100 in the nation in May.<\/p>\n

Given the time it takes to achieve competitive play level, the UCF team is taking time to invest in the future. Aside from working with the Academy in Orlando, they are piloting a partnership with the UCF Creative School for Children this summer. The center looks after infants to children in VPK. During the summer, they also have special camps for children ages six to 12.<\/p>\n

Each Wednesday volunteers from the club spend an hour at the school showing the school-age children the basics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the chess club offers our children a great opportunity to build their creative problem-solving skills, strategic thinking and emotional intelligence,\u201d said Amy Hesse, an expert in early childhood education and director of the school. \u201cIt takes skill to play the game and grace to win and lose. The skills the children learn will be with them for life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lavine Von\u2019s grandfather taught her how to play chess when she was 5. \u201cIt\u2019s a popular game in the Philippines and so he taught me,\u201d said the UCF computer engineering major. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s why it feels so good to play. We were close. He\u2019s been gone for a while now.\u201d Von is one of about 100 students in the UCF…","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":73179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,6,27],"tags":[982,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-73178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-community","category-student-life","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\nStudents Building Chess Dynasty at UCF | UCF News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lavine Von\u2019s grandfather taught her how to play chess when she was 5. \u201cIt\u2019s a popular game in the Philippines and so he taught me,\u201d said the UCF computer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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