By Shenoj Kuruvilla

With Valentine’s Day having just passed, love is still in the air, or so says BAC’s Chess Club. On 22nd February 2022, the Chess Club held their first ever ‘Blind Date Chess Tournament’ at the Level 1 Student Hub. The event meant to bring together students of BAC to play chess. Though there were only 9 registrations, there were 15 participants on the day itself.  

The rules of the event were simple. A girl’s name would be drawn from a box, and she would have to draw a guy’s name from another box. These two would be paired together to play, and during the game they would trade chess related pick-up lines or ask each other ‘would you rather’ questions. In the end, the winner would receive a bar of candy as a prize.  

The event initially started with a round of ‘warm-ups,’ where the experienced chess players taught the beginners how to play. They played a few rounds before the fun finally began, and couples were picked out. Though the players were initially awkward, they played along, amused at the pick-up lines. One pick-up line heard from a player was “Girl, my chess set was missing a queen until I found you.” 

However in the end only some can win. There were 5 winners in this tournament. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided the end of the tournament was at hand, as the heavy rain started to enter the Student Hub. Though the rain stopped the event, it did not stop the friendships that formed between the participants. 

The Vice President of the Chess Club and event coordinator had this to say, “We acquired good turnout and yielded satisfactory outcome.” 

All in all, it was a productive event, and students were indeed brought together to play chess and form friendships from it.