The Chess Club just got a little bigger.

For the past two years, Hollis-Brookline High School has had a chess club, meeting on and off throughout the school year. It was one of the school’s more modest clubs, advised by Ms. Heaton with meetings for an hour after school, hosting only a tournament here and there.

According to Devin Orr, ’15, events are about to pick up.

Orr is the President of the club, and has been a member since it was created in 2012. While she had been happy with the club’s turnout and structure before, she wasn’t completely satisfied. Turnout for the club averaged at only about four people during the weekly meetings. Now, Orr and her veteran club members are aiming for a goal of thirty consistent members.

“Meetings have been exclusively chess,” said Orr, “which I think has deterred a lot of people from the club.” Essentially, the club had been presented within the context of one game, a problem its members would like to remedy. This year, the scope of the club has been broadened to include games like Risk and Diplomacy, and with Ms. Heaton’s collection of additional games in the library’s Fiction section. Orr hopes that a wider range of options will attract a wider range of patrons.

“It’s gotten a lot of integration between different games. It’s already gotten more people coming, and I want to expand it even more.”

Before this year, the club’s primary source of attention came in the form of chess tournaments held in the library on a sporadic basis, which often attracted up to a dozen competitors.

However, according to Orr, “They were informed there were chess tournaments, but not additional weekly meetings.”

She still intends to host the tournaments, now branching out into other games as well, and will make advertising a priority.

The outlook of the club is bright, and at the moment, Orr is more than welcoming to anybody who might show an interest.

“I’m not looking for a solid club group. It can be people who come for a few days–who just want to play chess and have fun.”

Numbers are already picking up, and like all clubs, this one will grow and find its own niche at the school. For those interested, meetings are on Tuesdays, from immediately after school till 3:30.

The Chess Club, in its old form, is gone.

The Gaming Club is here.