Inlet has a variety of clubs, including Adventure club, Drama club, Crochet club, Multimedia club, Yearbook club, etc. Chess club is one of the many clubs Inlet has to offer, where students meet every Wednesday during lunch in Mr. Horn’s room to play, or even learn to play chess with friends.

Chess club had their first tournament at the beginning of the school year on Saturday, November 18. Sophia Varallo, the Vice President of Chess Club, made sure that all chess members participating prepared since November 8, a total of 10 days before the event. 

The tournament was held at the Cox Science Center in West palm Beach, it began at 10:00am  with a 35$ team entry fee that was handled by the club funds. The participants were sorted out with who they would be playing against.

“I didn’t attend the tournament today”, said Sophia Varallo, a 9th grader from the Marine Academy, “ but I do look forward to the next tournament.”

Alex Zacarias-Mendez,  Zachary Padgett, Julian Griffin, Christian Diaz, Dat Ngo, and Mr. Horn all attended, representing the name of Inlet Grove High school.

“I lost the first round, but I won the second one”, said Julian Griffin, a Junior in the Web Design Academy, “I lost the third, won the 4rth and of course I lost the 5th.”

As usual, there was a total of 5 rounds of competition against other groups and individuals from different ages and grades depending on skill level. In between round 2 and 3 there was a lunch break where pizza, chips, and beverages were served to the contestants.

“The first round wasn’t very fun, I hadn’t had a chance to warm up”, said Zachary Padgett, a 10th grader from the Web Design Academy. “I didn’t know what to expect, but our team came home with the team trophy and several of us got individual awards”.

The Chess Club won the group trophy against other groups, along with individual awards where Alex  Zacarias-Mendez won the 5th place medal, Julian Griffin won the 4th place medal , Dat Ngo won the 3rd place medal, and the 1st place trophy being won by Christian Diaz .

“I enjoyed the tournament a lot with my team, it was nice. I didn’t really expect to win because most of the other players in our school were extremely good but I won regardless”, Said Christian Diaz, a 9th grader in the Architecture Academy, “I rate this a 10/10 tournament, I loved it and would do it again.”