Chess Club’s Experience at State: Featuring Mr. May!

This year has been the first time in quite a while that the Chess Club has been to the State Tournament. Obviously, this is a big accomplishment for them and and the amount of pride we have is tremendous. They finished strong with four wins and three losses, giving the team a boost in the State team tournament, which was on Friday and Saturday. They were victorious in their matches against Perry High School, Notre Dame, and Desert Ridge High School, and Chandler High School with only a single loss to Gilbert Classical Academy along with earlier back-to-back losses against Gilbert High School and Basis Chandler. Next week will be when the results are announced, so keep your hopes up! Today, I’ll be interviewing the Chess Club’s sponsor, Mr. May, for more information about the club.

Q: When did the Chess Club at ACP start and how long has it been going on? What were some changes made in the club over that time?

A: I have been a coach for three years.  The club was established prior to me with a different coach. I believe that the club was made when ACP-Erie moved to this campus, so it started in the very beginning.

Q:How did COVID-19 affect the Chess Tournaments? What were some changes that the club and the chess community in Arizona had to go through because of the pandemic?

A: This year chess is played online. Via Chess.com. The technical issues involved communication between students when they’re playing against each other. Sometimes there were no responses; emails didn’t work. For the most part, the students were able to talk to each other and play through their game. They could play it at home as well. The State Tournament was specifically scheduled while people were playing against each other. In a normal year, we would all go physically to the location and play three or four rounds, and a lot more games were played.

Q: Would you recommend others to join the club? What were the best experiences you had sponsoring the club?

A: Yes, definitely! This year has been the best year, since this is the first year that I’ve coached that has been to the State Tournament. Of course, more kids in the club would help us a lot, and I’m sure that in the following years we will continue to be victorious.

Congratulations for making it to the State Tournament, Knights, and remember to strive for the impossible and be extraordinary!