On December 1, Oakdale High School students battled nine other schools in the chess tournament at Governor Thomas Johnson High School. Participating schools included St. John’s and the Maryland School for the Deaf. The students walked away with a proverbial silver medal.
This is the second Chess tournament in Frederick County. As with any new activity, the first tournament was not as well organized compared to the more recent tournament, though the structure is the same.
Sophomore Temi Oweh, Senior JD Feaster, and Senior Ricardo Yanez-Gonzalez remember the first tournament fondly.
Yanez-Gonzalez participated in the previous tournament because “I wanted to play more chess with other people, and I found out like it’s a good opportunity to do that and see what other schools did.” Oweh and Feaster participated for similar reasons.
Feaster vividly described how the tournament he participated in worked: “For the first round you just played against someone completely random, and then after that, it was through a seating system that the teachers worked up, and you played through five games.”
Participants were randomly matched against other students. Then, depending on how many wins and losses each student had, they were matched against other students with similar records. Five rounds would be played. Chess Club advisor Danny Hayre agreed that this was how the recent tournament worked.
As for finding a winning school, Hayre illustrated the process: “A win earns a student one point on their individual score and a draw is half a point. If a student has a bye, they sit out that round and earn a point automatically. School scores are taken from the top six scoring students from each school.”
Oakdale High recently came in second place among nine other schools, including the Maryland School for the Deaf. Despite the impressive result, Oakdale as a whole didn’t prepare much for the tournament.
Unlike other sports teams, Oakdale’s Chess Club does not have a designated Chess Team or practices. The Chess Club gets together and plays on Club Day and sometimes after school. Beyond that, it is up to the students to prepare.
The Chess Club has existed long before the tournament was created. The club itself is made of students from all grades, with many variations of experience with each member. Some have played for years, while others have just recently started playing.
For those who wished to participate but could not, there will be more chances. Hayre predicted, “The next one should be Spring 2024, most likely May 2 on that two hour early dismissal day for mid-term.”
For those who want to participate in the next tournament, take a chance. Anyone could contribute to Oakdale’s inevitable victory. Taking the plunge is the only way to know for sure.
