Chess enthusiasts looking for a social experience of the game may want to check out tonight's Bughouse Tournament at the Chess Club of Fairfield County (CCFC), located at 710 West Ave. in Norwalk. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m., with the first round beginning at 6 p.m. Trophies will be awarded to the top team, and pizza will be served. Cost for entry is $5, $15 for non-members.
For those not in the know, CCFC’s Scholastic Director Dan Lowinger explained that bughouse is a popular variant of traditional chess in which teams of two play against each other. On each team, one plays black and the other white. If your teammate captures his opponent’s pieces, your teammate can pass them to you. Bughouse prioritizes, and develops players’ skill at, attacking the king.
“In traditional chess, if you go after the King, you have to sacrifice your resources,” Lowinger said. “But in bughouse, your resources are continually replenished because your partner can keep feeding them to you.”
Lowinger shared that newcomers to chess and kids particularly enjoy it because it’s social, and the goal is very understandable and singular: get the king.
“Bughouse gets lots of kids involved in chess who might initially be turned off by the solitary nature of it,” he said. “Right now, we’re the only chess institution that gives bughouse ratings, but I’d like to bring it into more standard practice.”
CCFC hosts bughouse tournaments on the first Tuesday of every month, so if you miss tonight's event, mark April 3 on your calendar!