Chess enthusiasts rekindle chess club
Local chess enthusiast and tutor, Asher Baldwin, has played chess his entire life. Now he wants to help others discover the intricate beauty of the game.
Baldwin, an experienced and competitive chess player, is offering tutoring in chess for all ages for roughly $10 to $20, depending on the lesson. With these lessons, Baldwin hopes to reignite a passion for chess in the St. Joseph community.
“It gives the kids something else to do,” he said. “It gives everyone something else to do. It just creates a more positive environment and just all across, it’s a great time.”
Along with chess tutoring, Baldwin aims to create a chess club in St. Joseph in hopes the game helps others like it’s helped him.
“It’s the base of self-improvement,” Baldwin said. “I need chess. I need chess to learn how to improve, how to think better and without it, I really didn’t know how to (improve). So it’s like chess has been a journey of self-improvement.”
Baldwin posted his hopes of a new chess club on Facebook- this is where he met Jeromie Frost.
With the help of a friend, Frost started St. Joseph’s last chess club over 20 years ago. His group would meet regularly to play, but when life got in the way, the group disbanded. Now he’s excited to see a resurrected passion for the game.
“We had, you know, several very amateur players and then we had others that were had played in tournaments and were really good,” Frost said. “So we all learned off of each other, and it was a lot of fun.”
Baldwin hopes to popularize chess in St. Joseph again because of the many life skills it builds upon.
“You got critical thinking, you got empathy because you got to understand what the other person wants,” he said. “(It increases) logic, increases intelligence. It’s teaches discipline. It’s really a correlation to life.”
Frost said chess presents a rare opportunity for St. Joseph residents to directly connect without the interference of technology.
“With the age of the internet and computers and everything, I’m afraid that people won’t sit down face-to-face anymore with a board like this and actually play and have the social experience that we once enjoyed,” he said.
“Nothing beats the face-to-face where you get the social experience and you get to meet people,” he continued. “And chess is just a great game in general because it it reflects life. When you play chess, you know, you not only have to think about what you’re doing but you have to think about the repercussions of what you’re doing. If I move this, what’s he going to do next? And sometimes, you know, you need to take a minute and think before you act. And in life, I think we can all learn from that.”
Those interested in chess tutoring or joining the chess club can reach Baldwin at 605-212-8061 or through his Facebook profile, Asher Baldwin.
“I just hope that it grows and grows and that people get excited about it and they see what a great game it is,” Frost said. “And that it’s successful and they have a great get-together where everybody can meet new friends and and enjoy the game.”
