On November 13th, students gathered in E9 to enjoy a cozy winter afternoon, drinking hot chocolate and pursuing their speed chess interest. There were 32 student spots available, however, around 40 students from all grades attended.

Some were interested in honing their chess skills, while others came to observe the festivities and enjoy the hot chocolate. Leadership provided a water heater and Swiss Miss cocoa mix for students to make their homemade drinks.

In E9, multiple tables had physical chess boards and pieces. Junior Leadership student and Commissioner of Social Affairs Maggie Mandell said, “We gathered the boards from our collaboration with the chess club and it was great, the [event] really came together.”

There were teams consisting of one to three people at each table. If the team won they moved on to another table. While there was no overall winner announced, Chess Club President senior Alex Shrauger dominated his games. Attendee junior Sidd Iyer said chess is a hobby for him and he enjoyed participating in three games. He thought “some of the matchups were clearly not the best, some people were clearly better than the others but some [matchups were good] and the games were really interesting, it wasn’t clear who was going to win.”

Freshman Leadership student Finley Cattell said she “played chess with [her] friends” and described the atmosphere as “fun and positive.” Mandell said “it was really cozy and warm…and it wasn’t a super competitive competition, it was a very chill way to play with friends.”

This academic, social, fall event was successful in the view of the Leadership planners and student attendees.