Did you know, chess is a proven way to improve memory function? Well, here at Pella High School, Freshman Dom Davis has created a chess tournament to fundraise for cancer research. Dom was inspired to create this tournament after watching a video about professional chess players. 

“I thought doing something like that would be cool in our school, but I didn’t really think anyone would want to play for a prize, especially not casual players. So then I figured I could make the money go towards charity instead and more people would want to join. That way it doesn’t feel like a gamble and feels like a nobel act instead.” stated Davis

Davis was surprised by the amount of players who participated. “I honestly didn’t think the tournament would become a success at all. Initially I expected maybe 4 or 5 people to join and it would be a relatively small event that would be quickly forgotten. That’s actually the only reason I didn’t go through the student council or the principal, I didn’t think anyone would be interested. What I did was create a list of about 60-70 people I knew played chess. This list went across all grades in the school. I then emailed, texted, and talked to every person on that list for 3 days straight. In the end, 22 people agreed.” 

The tournament ended with Freshman Corbin VanDyke beating Freshman Rex Rhamy in the final chess  match. 

“It felt good to win because the people I played against were much better than I was.” stated VanDyke. 

All together, $180 was raised for charity. It cost $5 to join and 22 people participated altogether. Davis himself did not participate, but he still put $70 towards the cause anyways.