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by JR Valrey, the People’s Minister of Information and editor in chief of the SF Bay View
I have a great respect for the game of chess. When I was first becoming a writer with Youth Outlook, a lot of the older writers that I looked up to played chess regularly at lunch time on Market and Powell Street in San Francisco with the Chinese elders.
If you won, you played for free, if you lost, you paid for the game. Those memories are intertwined with my memories of being a writer as a teenager, because I believe that the discipline and analytical skills that it takes to become a chess player are some of the same skills that it takes to be a good writer, and I learned that from the late Ri’Chard Magee, Charles Jones, Hanif Bey and Kash.
Fast forward a couple decades, the game of chess still wakes me up mentally. I met Tim Killings as an organizer against police terrorism. As we became friends and comrades, we learned of each other’s love for the game. He called me one day and told me that he was starting a chess institute in the ‘hood in West Oakland. I told him that I was 100% behind the effort.
This article is our public service announcement to the community to come and drop in on the free classes and games at the West Oakland Library every Wednesday from 4:30-6:30pm.
JR Valrey: What’s the story behind how you learned how to play chess?
Timothy Killings: I learned how to play chess when I was 9 or 10 years old at a community center. A brother who was working at the center was teaching about seven kids how to play on different boards when I walked in. I sat down and he began to rotate between me and other youths. I fell in love with the game instantly. He taught me how all the pieces moved, basic openings and most importantly how to checkmate my opponent. Over the years I played on and off, but during the pandemic I began to play every day.
JR Valrey: Why has it been so important to your life? What has chess taught you?
Timothy Killings: Chess has been important to me because many of the principles in chess apply to life as well. Chess taught me how to think through difficult situations. A good chess player is able to analyze many different scenarios and possibilities of a move and choose the best one.
In chess if you move too quickly without weighing out all of your options, it is very likely you will lose or at least lose valuable material. And in chess you cannot take any move back, so your next move always has to be your best move. Learning all of these principles and more improved my critical thinking skills and desire to make smart decisions in life.
JR Valrey: Can you talk about why you organized a weekly gathering for chess players? What is it called? How is it going?
Timothy Killings: The reason I organized a weekly chess gathering is because I really like to play in person. Online platforms like chess.com have become really popular, but I prefer to play in person. However, it was hard for me to find spaces where chess was being played regularly.
When I did find a few places, they were in Berkeley and San Francisco. I figured I couldn’t be the only one in Oakland looking for a place to play chess in person, so I reserved a space in the West Oakland Library. I came up with the name The Oakland Chess Institute and named the weekly gathering Chess Not Checkers, and it has between four to eight people that show up weekly.
The best part has been a 6-year-old that shows up every week and he is really good.
JR Valrey: What is your ultimate goal? Where do you want to see this organization in five years?
Timothy Killings: My short term goal is to build a large weekly meet-up where community members of all skill levels can come learn and play chess. My long term goal is to have an Oakland Chess Institute space or cafe where chess is played daily. The institute would have members, tournaments and fun community events.
I would also like to see the organization partner with schools to teach chess classes on campuses across Oakland. In five years I hope the Oakland Chess Institute is a strong community organization that spreads the love of chess by providing space and opportunities for anyone to learn and play.
JR Valrey: How do you want people to feel after leaving the weekly chess event?
Timothy Killings: When people leave the weekly Chess Not Checkers meet up, I want them to feel like they had a good time and learned more about the game. I want them to feel like they have a community and somewhere consistent they can come play. I hope people leave wanting to learn more about the game and a desire to return next week.
JR Valrey: Why is a form of friendly competition on an intellectual level, like weekly chess events, important to the social fabric and future of the Black community?
Timothy Killings: Chess is a competitive but very fun game to play. Quiet as kept, chess has always been popular in our community, especially on the East Coast. Chess brings people of all walks of life together. I have had some of the best conversations over a game of chess.
Chess is also a great exercise for the human mind. We need to have communal spaces where we exercise our minds and celebrate intellectual excellence. I feel like our community shows up and has a lot of spaces for physical competitive sports, which is definitely needed, but we need to create spaces where we are competing and challenging ourselves intellectually as well.
There is an infinite number of variations of how a game could turn out, so no two chess games are ever alike, which is why chess players can play games for hours and not get bored. Chess is an amazing game that will be around for a long time and can only enrich our community.
JR Valrey: How is your chess game? Are you any good? What makes you think you are good?
Timothy Killings: I am an average chess player, but I am getting better by the day. I am not a Grandmaster or anything like that. I just love the game. My rating is around 1300 on chess.com. I win games often but I do make a lot of mistakes sometimes.
Nevertheless, I learn much from my losses, and always go back to the drawing board and try to improve my game. I try to read books about chess and play as many games as I can.
JR Valrey: How could people become a part of the weekly chess event?
Timothy Killings: If people want to become part of the weekly chess event they can come to the West Oakland Library every Wednesday between 4:30 to 6:30.
JR Valrey, The People’s Minister of Information, is the Editor in Chief of the SF Bay View. He is also the instructor for the San Francisco Bay View’s Community Journalism Class, which is funded by the California State Library.
