The Chess Club met in-person for the first time since the pandemic on Thursday.
The weather was mild and sunny as attendees met over two tables with six chess boards by the fountain in the quad at 12:30 p.m.
“It was a beautiful day for playing some chess outside under the trees,” said Dr. Edwin Fagin, an economics professor and the club’s advisor.
The club’s president Atlanta Nguyen, 28, a pre-nursing major, organized the event over a Discord server.
“Chess is a skill and you can constantly keep on learning. And from my background in psychology, practice makes perfect like in anything in life,” Nguyen said. “You can always keep on growing.”
Nguyen is a 2017 CalPoly San Luis Obisbo industrial tech and psychology graduate who enrolled back in school to pursue a degree as a physician’s assistant.
Newcomers like Erlynn Cardenas-Jackson, a campus visitor who joined the group on her lunch hour after researching the club. Cardenas-Jackson works for the state managing contracts and said the event was lovely.
“CRC is very familiar to me,” Cardenas-Jackson said. “It occurred to me they might have a chess club. When I looked it up on the website Fagin was listed and low and behold, he was like ‘come out and play with us.'”
Fagin said that the social part is one of the many things he loves about chess.
“I just like it. It’s a fun game to play. You get to meet people. You get to hang out. I don’t think it’s a very stressful game. I like to win but I don’t win that often,” Fagin said with a smile.
Stephanie Morara, 19, a chemistry major and chess club member, stopped by to watch, but not to play.
“I’m feeling tired and mentally drained,” Morara said. “It’s a nice break to just come watch.”
Fagin offered some advice for those who play game after game and keep losing.
“Just keep playing. Each time you play, especially if you play someone better than you, you’re hopefully learning new skills,” Fagin said.
Nguyen said he was happy with the turnout and 10 new email addresses he gathered to add to the club’s communications list.
Many of the 15 individuals who attended played for 30 minutes longer than the scheduled one-hour meeting.
“(Chess) helps you think. It takes away from the daily stressors of having to go to work, make money. It helps you focus on one thing at a time,” Nguyen said. “It helps you slow down. It helps you at times to breathe.”

Contact Chess Club President at [email protected] for details on the next meet-up.