Tigard’s Chess Club held a tournament Feb. 19 after school.

     About a dozen people showed up to the tournament, which included prizes afterward for the winners. At the end of the tournament, the top three players—senior Linden Hile, junior Cooper Christianson, and sophomore Skylar Soon—were awarded Chess Club T-shirts. Hile, in first place, also took home a glass chess set.

     One avid member of Chess Club, junior Mitchell Atwood, baked a cake with a checkered pattern of black and white frosting for the attendees.

     “It’s fun to have a nice game of chess in the morning,” Atwood said. “I hate getting up early but it’s actually a really nice way to spend Friday mornings.”

     Junior Salam Rahal is president of Chess Club. He and a few other club members had participated in Mary Woodward’s chess club, which is in part what inspired them to start the club at Tigard.

     “We were playing a game of chess and we realized there’s no community for that here at Tigard, and we thought it would be fun to start a club,” Rahal said.

     Most of the club members like the relaxing atmosphere that the club provides.

“It’s all pretty casual,” Atwood said. “It’s a nice community.”

     “I like being able to play chess with my friends,” junior Tyler Emerson said.

     Chess Club meets weekly Friday mornings in Spanish teacher Chris Engstrom’s room.

     “It’s a welcoming community,” Rahal said. “You don’t have to be a pro; you can just come in and play.”