This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
LONGMONT, Colo. – The Longmont Library’s chess club isn’t your run-of-the-mill chess club. Last year, they hosted a Live Chess game, in which all the chess pieces are played by live people moving across a huge chessboard, and this year, the club is engaged in a game of virtual chess with the ACME Pawn Pushers chess club of the Hammond Public Library in Hammond, Indiana. This virtual chess game is not online, but virtual in an old-fashioned way – with the two clubs following each other’s moves from the distance of one thousand miles.
As each club decides its move, they communicate it to Longmont chess club leader and library staff member, Sherri Jennings, who heads up the Longmont club and keeps the master board. The two clubs share a love of chess, but have never met in person and differ in composition; the Longmont Library chess club is comprised of youths and adults, while the Hammond Public Library club’s membership is nearly all adult during the school year.
Ed Blanco, founder of the ACME Pawn Pushers, learned of the Longmont club through a Google Alert he has set to chess news, contacted Jennings, and issued a match challenge. “I received this email from this person I didn’t know, challenging our club to a match,” explains Jennings. “They sent the first move, so we were off and running with a game.” The two clubs began their virtual match in April and are not expected to finish the game until next year. The Hammond club meets once a week, and the Longmont club meets twice a month, so the clubs schedules’ have dictated the pace of the turn-taking. Jennings is optimistic about the outcome. “We’re ahead right now, and we expect to win!” she says with a smile.
The Longmont Public Library’s chess club welcomes all players of any level and meets the first and third Monday of every month from 7 to 8 pm at the Library. Registration is not required, so drop by and see what fun chess can be!
This is a news release from the Longmont Public Library and is published by the Longmont Observer as a public service.
