ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Nearly 100 strategists appeared at the Lakefront Hotel in Anchorage on Saturday. <\/p>\n
The mass of people all had the same goal: take home the top prize at the first Alaska State Chess Tournament. The number of people participating was close to breaking records for the state, according to President and Treasurer of the Alaska Chess Federation Reilly O\u2019Hara.<\/p>\n
\u201dBack in the early 90s, there used to be Fur Rondy annual tournaments for chess, and they used to have attendance in the high 80s to 90 players. So, with today, we were hoping for 100 to break that record, but as of right now I believe we\u2019re at 92 players in attendance,\u201d O\u2019Hara said Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
One of those players in attendance was Michael Olsta. He has been playing for as long as he can remember and traveled to Anchorage from Fairbanks to participate.<\/p>\n
\u201dMy grandfather taught me to play chess when I was four, and I had a brother who was also very good at chess. We would play a lot going pretty much all the way into high school,\u201d Olsta said.<\/p>\n
His grandfather used a simple but effective technique.<\/p>\n
\u201dHe would always want to form what\u2019s called a fork of the king and the rook using the knight,\u201d Olsta explained. <\/p>\n
But overcoming challenges is what makes the game fun.<\/p>\n
\u201dIt was really great to start getting that feeling of mastery,\u201d Olsta said. \u201dYou start understanding openings, where you should want your pieces to be focused, depending on what your opponent does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chess has been with Olsta throughout his life, even making it a way to unwind with his friends in the Fairbanks chess club.<\/p>\n
\u201dIt\u2019s been pretty much a whole year since I started play at the club, and a now a bunch of the guys, you know, I know really well. We even have like outside the normal club time, we\u2019ll go to a bar and we\u2019ll play at the bar together,\u201d Olsta said.<\/p>\n
Chess has seen a resurgence over the last few years through online play and internet personalities bringing attention to the centuries-old game, but according to Olsta, playing in person is the best way to play it.<\/p>\n
\u201dI like playing on the board. It\u2019s very physical. I like playing that aspect of it,” he said. \u201cIf you only play the computer game, sometimes you forget the physicality of the board,\u201d Olsta explained.<\/p>\n
While Olsta didn\u2019t win the entire tournament, he was able to offer some sage wisdom to anyone interested in learning the art of chess.<\/p>\n
\u201dThere\u2019s like this slow developing of your knowledge in the game, and you start to love it more because you\u2019re starting to learn and have more fun with it. The more you can do, the more fun games you\u2019ll have because there\u2019ll be different situations you\u2019ve never seen before,\u201d Olsta said.<\/p>\n