This is a contribution from a Swampscott High School student, as part of the Swampscott Tides Big Blue Student News selection.

Article by Cam Tracy, Video and Photos by Noah Wierl

Swampscott High School sophomores Emmanuel Hernandez and Kayden Arias held the first meeting of their student-run chess club on Wednesday, March 11.

Originally scheduled for Friday, March 6, the meeting was delayed due to a weather-related school delay. The two founders eventually held their first meeting in history teacher Eve Feinsmith’s room during their free period, where many students joined.

Though their free period was only 30 minutes long, Hernandez and Arias made the most of their limited time by presenting a slideshow to newcomers explaining how the game is played and sharing basic strategies. The students also moderated two practice matches between classmates.

“My husband plays a lot of chess so I see him playing a lot and when I was a kid I played chess with my grandfather,” Feinsmith said. “There is an art to these old games.”

The chess club is the second student-founded club of the 2025–26 school year, following a physics club started by student Anushka Talukdar.

Feinsmith, who was interested in holding a chess club at the school for a while, was immediately on board with Hernandez and Arias’ idea. She volunteered to become the club’s advisor, offering her classroom as a hub for chess lovers all over the school every Friday.

“Originally, I brought the idea up to Manny because we were doing some research on clubs that I could join that we both like, and we found out the chess club was gone. They didn’t have a club as of now, but it was on the website so we were like ‘Why don’t we do it?’” Arias told the Swampscott Tides.

They realized there’s been a renewed interest in the age-old game and quickly brought their proposal to the faculty, including Feinsmith.

“I loved chess when I was younger and I’m coming back to the game now that I’m a little older, and I really appreciate the complexity of it as I age. Honestly my love for the game has only grown over the years,” said Hernandez, who singlehandedly funded the club. “My love for the game just sparked a deep fire under me, and I decided I needed to share this with others.”