Checkmated and clock-outed winners in Santa Monica College Chess Tournament
On March 28, a quiet Friday afternoon turned into a lively scene at the Santa Monica College (SMC) cafeteria. The cafeteria was filled with the tapping sound of chess clocks from players signaling the end of each move, during the first of two SMC Chess-Club-sponsored open tournaments for the spring semester.
Thirteen players signed up for the tournament, as players of all skill levels were invited to play. There were also players not registered for the tournament who played alongside those who were.
Each participant goes up against each other in a round-robin style match, with no elimination. Points are tallied in the end, based on the number of wins, draws and losses. Each player gets five minutes to execute all their moves, and an extra three seconds are added to the clock for every move completed. A player wins by checkmating their opponent or forcing them to run out of time.
The top three winners of the tournament receive a 19-inch Arienne wooden chess set and the books “Chess Traps” by I. A. Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld and “How to Win at Chess” by Levy Rozman.
Winston Sharpe, communication officer of the Chess Club, recorded and tallied the day’s scores. Sharpe retold a close game that had just ended between club advisor Aaron Simo and club president Sohei Okamoto.
“They were around even material - one queen, one rook... they had to play around a very common issue, which is having a rook and a queen left, and they had to ‘pre-move’ so much, because they were roughly on 10 to 20 seconds each. So they had to constantly move, which is kind of like you hearing a clock... You would hear constant hitting of the clock. It was a very rapid game,” said Sharpe.
Elijah Tipton, a member of the Chess Club, expressed that chess is a quiet spectator sport, but still exciting to watch. You cannot call out moves even if you see them.
“You can’t see what they are thinking, but if you are able to play the game a bit, a lot of the moves make sense due to the fact chess is like you are building something. You're building off what another person puts down, so in a weird way, you are working with your opponent while at the same time you are trying to mess up your opponent,“ said Sharpe.
Simo, a math professor at SMC, expressed gratitude for the club, appreciating that the club welcomes players of all levels. After the COVID-19 lockdown, former president of the Chess Club Henry Novorro started to leave unattended chess games on the cafeteria tables to invite people to play - a tradition that continues to this day.
Chess Club member Nick Alfaro began playing chess when he was in the seventh grade. Although this was his first tournament, he was thrilled to participate. Chess helps Alfaro relax, especially during stressful times at school.
At the tense moment of the match, Okamoto and Tipton were competing head-to-head for the second-highest score. Excitement erupted when Okamoto lost his match against Nay Thura “Alex” Tu.
After tallying the score, three players were tied for the third-highest score. Okamoto and Simo, being president and advisor to the club, pulled their total points from the tournament and dropped out to declare new winners.
To determine third place, Keykoorosh Hematian played against Tun in a tie-breaker game called “Armageddon.” White gets five minutes and black gets four minutes. If the game draws, black wins by default. In the end, Hematian ended up defeating Tun to finish third in the tournament.
The top three winners of the tournament were Tipton (engineering major), crowned first place; Adman El-Sherief (business major), who finished second; and Hematian (biology major) came in third.
Tipton looked fondly at the “Chess Traps” book. Chess traps are like puzzles and he loves solving puzzles, but in the end, he opted for the grand prize of the wooden chess set. El-Sherief chose “Chess Traps” while Keykoorosh took home the “How to Win at Chess.”
Before the cafeteria lights were turned off, the club didn’t forget to leave behind open chess pieces and mats for those who wanted to try their hands at the sport.
The SMC Chess Club plays chess every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on the second floor of Cayton Center. They will host another open tournament in May 2025.