Chess gets on board for more students at Lakeshore campus

Humber’s chess club has been in check since its launch last year.

The club has officially made it into an extracurricular activity for students to join at the Lakeshore campus.

Club president, Evan Stathopoulos, says he was inspired to start a chess club from a school he previously attended. It did take some time to get the process started, but the club became an official in October 2022.

The turnout is steadily increasing. Last year, the club had double the number people coming to tournaments compared to their weekly meetings. This year, there has been a steady amount of people who attend both meetings and tournaments.

“It gives them (students) something to look forward to every week other than classes. Not all students want to be in classes all the time or they’re not a fan of them. This can be an escape at school while not actually doing school work. Some of our members here don’t play chess but they just come to hang out and do some school work here,” Stathopoulos says.

With more extracurricular activities, Humber students have been able to build more relationships with those outside of their classrooms and find people with similar interests.

“I had a friend in one of my classes that said chess club was happening right after our class and I should come too and I’ve been attending ever since,” says club member Maxwell Walker.

On a social level, Walker says it is important for him to be there on a weekly basis.

“People have made connections at the club,” Stathopoulos says.

The club has members who are new at chess or have been playing for a few years. Whether the goal for a member is to learn a new skill or to make new friends, the chess club will welcome anyone in. “If someone has never played chess before, they are able to join in and learn,” Stathopoulos says.

Photo credit: Carolyn Burgos Cando

The chess club meets every Thursday during the semester from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in H building room 212.