Written for The Argo by Christian Discenza and Nicholas Carlson

As the Spring 2021 semester comes to an end, Stockton’s Osprey Chess Club will host its last major university-wide chess tournament of the academic year. The first annual Osprey Bullet Chess Tournament will be held virtually on Friday, April 16th, from 7:00 to 9:15 P.M. The tournament is open to all Stockton students, staff, and alumni. The tournament will be accessed through the Chess.com platform, where the games will be played in the website’s “arena” mode. Additionally, there will be an optional accompanying Zoom room that can support up to 100 people. 

The winner of the chess.com arena will win a $20 Amazon gift card, with 2nd and 3rd places both receiving $10 Amazon gift cards. The gift cards, alongside small medals, will be distributed at a later date due to the tournament being virtual. All winners must be current Stockton students; staff and alumni are welcome to play in the tournament but are ineligible for prizes. 

Bullet Chess is one of the most popular online chess variants; it has chess players compete together in 1 on 1 matches with only a minute of play for each competitor. The nature of bullet chess allows for fair play amongst new and old players as the focus shifts from strategy and critical thinking to on-the-spot processing and fast-paced action. There are also certain advantages to playing the bullet chess variant online, such as the inability to mistakenly capture one’s own piece in a carefree motion. This is in reference to club president, Nicholas Carlson, mistakenly and embarrassingly taking his own pawn during an over-the board bullet chess match with Stockton alumni Matthew Singh.

Please note that all participants must create a Chess.com account, as it is needed to play online. Once an online Chess.com account is created, participants must also join the Osprey Chess Club on Chess.com. Links are provided below, but if any participants are still having trouble creating a Chess.com account, they must reach out to OspreyChessClub@gmail.com for assistance. Those who wish to participate in the event are encouraged to RSVP on OspreyHub using the first link below. 

OspreyHub RSVP – https://stockton.campuslabs.com/engage/event/7021404 

The Osprey Chess Club Chess.com Page ~  https://www.chess.com/club/osprey-chess-club

The Events Chess.com Arena Room ~ https://www.chess.com/play/arena/1081290 

The Events Zoom Link ~ https://stockton.zoom.us/j/4654686479