The Qatar Ballroom buzzed with chatter as Tulane University’s two-day chess tournament unfolded on Sept. 21 and 22. Each match showcased not only strategic skill across generations but also a community united by a shared passion for the timeless game.

After the success of last year’s first chess tournament, organized by Tulane Chess Club and Downriver Chess Club of New Orleans, the two groups decided to host yet another community weekend of chess.

Day one consisted of five rounds of classic chess, in which both sides had an hour on the clock. On day two, players engaged in speed chess, giving each player only five minutes to move. Elio Sharp, only a freshman in high school, won in both days of the competition, beating Tulane Chess Club’s best player along the way.

“Playing and winning against adults is one of the reasons I love chess,” Sharp said. “It is a community that brings people together regardless of age or other factors – only a love for chess.”

Currently, Tulane Chess Club is working to extend this love for chess among children in the New Orleans area. Tulane Chess president and vice president, Carter Williams and Harry James, work with Strategic Thoughts NOLA, a local organization aiding youth development through chess. Run by Kendrick Perkins, this organization sends chess enthusiasts to underprivileged schools around New Orleans to teach elementary students how to play chess.

“I’m teaching them life skills through chess with how to think ahead and how to take your time and think about what you want your next move to be,” Williams said.

Having seen the benefits of Strategic Thoughts NOLA, Williams and James are working with Dennis Kehoe, professor of classical studies, to provide a chess-based Tulane Interdisciplinary Experience Seminar at Tulane. These first-year seminars are geared towards “active learning, intellectual challenges, and social co-curricular activities.” Kehoe’s current TIDES course is called Community Engagement, and it will soon offer a service learning component to allow students to teach chess at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School.

Williams and James have worked to implement this TIDES course because they “want other people to experience immersion in New Orleans youth to try to better their brain development.”

Down the line, the chess club hopes the TIDES course will expand into its own course, taught by their faculty advisor, Andrew Squitiro. During the course, students will have the opportunity to learn chess strategies and have the option to teach chess to students at local elementary schools for service learning hours. 

Between the annual chess tournaments and ongoing service opportunities, Tulane Chess is continuing to bring the New Orleans community together. They continue to show that the game of chess knows no age, and that Tulane Chess is more than just a campus club.