Our main goal is to increase membership

Chess members host tournament
By Krystle Wagner
Sunday, October 25, 2009

Even though he’s the vice president of the MSU Chess Club, Alex Delgado admits he doesn’t know everything about the game.

During a chess tournament held Sunday at the Union, Delgado, a computer science junior, said he learned how much simple mistakes can impact a game.

“Sometimes, I move pieces just for the sake of moving it,” Delgado said. “I shouldn’t do that.”

The chess club, which has about 15 members, held its annual tournament Sunday afternoon. Club president Carlos Fernandez-Torres said the event was held in part to attract more members to the group. Fernandez-Torres said he looked at the University of Michigan chess club — which he said has thousands of members — and hopes to reach that amount.

“Our main goal is to increase membership,” said Fernandez-Torres, an international relations senior. “I’ve been taking advice from friends in other organizations about where to find money and get the name out there.”

With hopes of promoting the group, Fernandez-Torres said he wants to hold more events similar to Sunday’s tournament.

“I’m trying to organize a tournament every semester and trying to do more,” Fernandez-Torres said.

Four-year chess club member Alisher Sanetullaev played in Sunday’s tournament for fun, even though he said he prepared for the event.

Here is the full article.