University of Guam Esports pushes forward into 2023 with a new chess team.

The Triton Esports Chess Team was newly founded this semester and spearheaded by Triton Esports manager, Ken San Nicholas. Players with various levels of experience all found their way onto the team by applying through the Triton Esports website. 

So far, the team has competed against two colleges since the beginning of the year.

The team fell short to Fresno State University, but they managed to get their first win against Pepperdine University, with a score of 7.5-8.5.

Kaelan Arciaga, a junior at UOG and current member of the chess team, led the Tritons to their first victory of the season and shares his experience on his first collegiate win.

“[The matches] were really fun. I really enjoyed the times we had matches. Watching my teammates play, watching ourselves play, and looking at how we failed and how we succeeded–there are really amazing matches that I wish more people at UOG could have seen. Hopefully, we get to stream them so people can watch them,” said Arciaga.

What began as a simple board game for the players eventually evolved into an opportunity to develop their teamwork skills and represent their university on a national level. For Kaelan, it means improving and learning from each moment in the game.

“I thought I was going to lose heavily but during the second match, I saw the mistakes I made and the mistakes my opponent made. It created a challenging yet fun experience that I can do some more.”

The Chess Team practices every Saturday at 2pm, in conjunction with the Chess Federation of Guam.