Shepherdstown resident Rob Sisk, left, works through a chess puzzle with the help of Shepherdstown Chess Club organizer Anya Ellis, in Game Knights on Saturday night. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Groups of chess enthusiasts, old and new, could be found crowding around chess boards in the game room of Game Knights, on Saturday evening.

High schoolers and senior citizens alike could be found engaging their chess knowledge and intellectual skill to solve a series of chess puzzles — three on the average player level and three on the grandmaster level — in honor of National Chess Day. According to event Shepherdstown Chess Club organizer Anya Ellis, this might have been one of the only events promoted by the U.S. Chess Federation for the day, that was not in the form of a tournament.

“It’s a smaller barrier to entry to playing chess. I thought that, because we hold tournaments on a regular bass, we should do something a little different than that for National Chess Day,” Ellis said of the event’s format. “We want to encourage more people to play the game and consider joining our club.”

The Shepherdstown Chess Club, Ellis noted, meets at The Daily Grind in Martinsburg on Tuesdays from 6-8 p.m. Membership is free, and participation is open to those of all ages and experience levels.

“A lot of chess is about pattern recognition. You have to be able to recognize patterns in play and be able to think a few steps ahead of your current move, to be able to play the game,” Ellis said.

Chess enthusiasts solve some puzzles with the help of a few of chess boards in Game Knights on Saturday night. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

The Chess Puzzle Night was successful in attracting a number of people, who were new to the club, if not the game of chess. One such person was Shepherd University student Micah Trezise, a double major in political science and social work and the president of the newly formed Diverse Games Club at the school.

“I’m more of a Dungeons & Dragons person, but I have past experience playing chess,” Trezise said. “Fundamentally, board games are for the people that enjoy them, like any hobby — some people like collecting insects, some people like playing board games. It’s not for everyone, but it’s for anyone who can enjoy it.”

Shepherdstown resident Rob Sisk similarly recalled chess being an equalizer in his own life, serving as a way for himself, his brother and his father to spend time together growing up.

“I used to play chess quite a bit. But then I got working and other things took precedence in my life for a while,” Sisk said.

He noted that he wants to more actively play chess again and, after meeting Ellis at the event, determined that he would be joining the Shepherdstown Chess Club at its weekly chess nights.

“It’s a good game, it’s a challenging game and it’s a good exercise for the brain,” Sisk said. “I’ve always found that learning how to think, multiple moves ahead, can help you with any direction you want to go in life.”