Check-mates
Club provides outlet for chess players Garry Kasparov vs. Vladimir Karmnik. Kasparov vs. Deep Blue. ASMSA vs. North Little Rock. Perhaps that third pairing doesn’t quite match the first two in some regards, but for the ASMSA chess team, it ranks pretty highly. North Little Rock High School, who has won the state title in the previous two years, has become a natural rival for ASMSA’s chess team. This year ASMSA and North Little Rock tied for first place in the regional qualifying tournament through the Chess Association for Arkansas Schools. Thanks to tiebreakers, North Little Rock was awarded the regional title, pushing ASMSA to second place. While the team still qualified for the state tournament with the finish, it left a bitter taste. It was especially bitter because the team did not have an opportunity to avenge its loss officially. The state championships scheduled to be held in April were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “There was a bit of frustration about that,” said Ethan Talley (’20), who served as co-vice president 10
of the club this past year. “We were really excited about going to state and having another shot at them. You expect something to happen, but when it doesn’t, it feels weird.” Micah Vess (’20) served as president of the chess club that forms ASMSA’s team. For him, it was a loss at the state championships in spring 2019 that is his most memorable game. At the state tournament, a team plays its top four players. Vess was playing on the first board because he had the highest qualifying rating on the team. They were paired against North Little Rock in their third match of the tournament. “I think you learn the most from losses,” Vess said. “Chess exemplifies the saying that ‘he who makes the last mistake loses.’ You can both be playing an awful, awful game, but it’s a fatal mistake that gets you.” The game was equal for a good while at the beginning, but it quickly went downhill for Vess. “We played probably 30 moves before I made the first mistake of the game which ended up being the last mistake of the game. It just went downhill from there. The stronger a player is the
