Last year, CUNY Prep teachers started a chess club at CUNY Prep. In June, members of the club went to Greenwich Village. Burkhart and members of the club visited some of the Village’s famous chess shops. Below, one of the club’s players, Donelle Ross, writes about why he enjoys playing the game.

My life are like pieces on a chess board

By: By Donelle Ross

This is my second cycle in Mr. Burkhart’s Chess Club class. Chess is a great game to play and to learn. The Chess Club made me more prepared, focused and aware of things that might come my way. After playing this game many times, I figured out that my school is kind of like playing chess. Chess consists of six different pieces — pawns, rooks, bishops, knights, a queen and a king. I picture myself as the king, because he is the head piece on the board. The pawns are my friends, because sometimes I have to sacrifice my pawns to defend my more powerful pieces. The queen is my case manager, who moves in any direction to defend the king and the other pieces. The bishops move diagonally and I consider the bishops to be my teachers, because the teachers always go across the line for their students. The next piece is called the knight. In the game of chess, there are two knights. The knights move in an “L” shape. The knights are my grades. Sometimes they are high, sometimes they are low. The last pieces are the rooks. The rook is a simple, basic piece. They represent the support of my family.