Chess is an activity that is regaining popularity and it now has a champion to boast of — senior Nick Chang.

Nick won in his  division at a recent Rochester chess tournament. This section is called the reserve, it is people ranked from 800-1200, and is one out of the four sections participants can compete in during these competitions. Players are ranked in categories by competing in certain tournaments. Based on how well each player scores at these events they are assigned a rank.

The reserve section is the the the third highest of the four levels. Now that Nick won the reserve section he will have to move up to the highest level. This tournament had no age limit, so Nick could have faced anyone from 8 years old to 50 years old.

Other members of the chess team are Sung Woo Jang, Eric Cho, Miguel Jauregui, and Sam Kweon. They are coached by Mr. Don Frisby, who is a very good chess player in his own right. Mr. Frisby has been playing for 60 years, and still competes some chess competitions.

Mr. Frisby had this to say about Nick Chang, “Nick’s focus sometimes seems up in the air, but when he plays chess he knows how to get it done.”

Nick has been playing since he was in eighth grade, he decided to play because he had some free time and thought it would be fun to try. He also likes to sometimes play chess online.

“Playing chess at Cotter has been a fun experience for me and I’ve enjoyed playing with my teammates, ” said Nick. Nick has very much enjoyed his time playing chess with the Cotter team and appreciates Mr. Frisby getting the team going.

The chess team has one more tournament remaining in the season..