Students Fill in As Chess Pieces at MHS

by Joan Rosen

(November 29, 2006) Who needs a chess set to play the game? On Tuesday, November 21, the Chess Club of Mamaroneck High School showed how to use people instead of pieces for a game of Human Chess laid out on the front lawn of the school.

Despite the cold weather, nearly 30 students turned out to participate. According to Ben Reiter, president of the club, that was about right. "I originally decided to try to do Human Chess at the Club Fair this year, when my friends and I realized two things: That we had over forty signups for Chess Club (the number required for Human Chess is 32), and that we had at most seven boards in the Chess Club, far less than was necessary to support a club of this size,” he said.

One night in the fall, the club president and a few friends purchased and painted eight 8' by 4' plywood boards in a black and white checkerboard pattern. They found appropriate props at a party store in Port Chester. Each piece (excluding pawns) has a unique weapon associated with it so it can be identified by the players.

For last week’s game, participants were broken up into two teams, black and white, and each was assigned a piece to represent. Two “players” were selected. They became the “kings” for their respective teams.

While one might think the life of a pawn would be very boring, judging by the two games played at MHS, fun was in fact had by all.

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