The Prefect Council hosted the school’s third annual chess tournament on the Quad from Feb. 24-28.
Jacob Massey ’25 won the tournament, defeating his opponent Ernest Yakushkin ’25 in the final game . The tournament kicked off with 26 student competitors, each playing three rapid five-minute games, before the top 16 competed in a bracket style competition that resulted in Massey’s victory.
Massey said despite having played chess from a young age, his victory came as a surprise.
“I started playing chess at five years old when my dad taught me, and, ever since then, it’s been an on-and-off hobby,” Massey said. “I didn’t think I’d win, but thought it would be fun to compete.”
Yakushkin said one key insight he would share with fellow students hoping to improve their chess game would be to slow down and calculate each move more carefully and methodically.
“When you play, the most important advice I have is to not rush,” Yakushkin said. “It’s important to remember that in chess, each player only takes one move at a time. If you play correctly, every move or situation has a counter even if it doesn’t become visible for 10 moves later.”
Yakushkin said he would encourage chess enthusiasts to take more calculated risks and to challenge themselves by seeking out opponents who are more experienced.
“Try to play people better than you and don’t be scared to make bold moves as long as you think them through,” Yakushkin said. “For anyone that wants to learn the game or get better, I would suggest simply playing online every once in a while, because the game is really rather simple once you know the rules. In my experience, playing on a physical board is better for learning and improving, and that is how I learned to play.”
Senior Prefect Victor Suh ’25 said Prefect Council’s work organizing this tournament drew on its extensive experience in campus event planning, including logistical coordination and execution.
“[Prefect Council’s] role in pretty much any event comes down to three things – organizing or ideating the event, promoting the event and running the event,” Suh said. “We’re the behind-the-scenes crew. This year, that looked like consolidating all the chessboards strewn across the campus, coordinating with Mr. Wormald and campus operations to make sure all the tables and chairs are set up in the right places and creating the tournament bracket.”
Suh said despite a perceived decline in chess’ popularity as a campus activity in recent years, the large number of tournament participants this year reveals that students still have a strong interest in and passion for the game.
“I remember two years ago when chess was the biggest thing in the entire world,” Suh said. “Lounge, library, quad, classrooms, etc, chess was all anybody wanted to play. Of course, the game’s popularity now isn’t exactly at the insane levels it was back then, but I was and am still very pleasantly surprised to see how many students decided to dedicate a week of their lunchtime to competing. So yes, we 1000% plan to host more tournaments, chess or otherwise, in the future.”
