Chess Club Adds Checkers to Weekly Meetings

Commentary Editor

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   The Chess Club will temporarily add the game of checkers to the games of chess already played each week.

   Students interested in playing checkers need to bring their own checkerboard and pieces to the meeting.

   Robert Graber, assistant professor of Finance, received the idea to add checkers the first time he gave a presentation in 2007 for an article he wrote about the game of chess and finance.          

   “Somebody suggested it might increase student interest to include both chess and checkers,” Graber said. “So, I’m trying it.”

   Students attending the Chess Club meeting learn about the strategies and moves involved in the game. The club also gives students a chance to meet other people who share the same interest in the game or want to learn how to play.

   “I think it will enhance the club by increasing student involvement and getting more people interested,” Graber said.

   Graber and Guy Nelson, instructor of Mathematics, advise the club and instruct and play members in the game of chess. 

   Nelson started teaching at the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 1989. Before coming to UAM, Nelson played chess with the Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

   Nelson advised the Chess Club after a student interested in chess restarted the club in 1990. The Chess Club played eight rounds in a Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship held in Chicago in 1991.

   Graber joined the Club in 2002 and became adviser of the club in 2003. The club held a Chess Championship in 2006 with 20 participants.

   “I just like to say come out and play chess,” Graber said. “Using your mind can be fun.”

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