CORRECTION APPENDED

Making use of maneuvers like the Sicilian and the Poison Pond, five Harvard undergraduates took on a team from the University of Beijing in the one game of intellect that has transcended national borders for decades. But in the end, the chess match—held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday—ended in a disappointing 5-5 tie. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

The rules of the match were simple: each side pitted its top five players against each other to battle it out for two matches, with the tournament organizers then tallying the total number of wins and ties for each team. (A win counted as one point and a tie counted as a half.) But considering that several of the players are internationally-ranked chess masters, the match quickly became more complicated.

For both teams, Chess is not simply about moving and taking pieces, but about the meticulous memorization of opening moves, the analysis of an opponent’s strategy, and the mental agility needed to piece it all together.

According to the Harvard Chess Team’s vice president, Edward F. Coleman ’11, many of the players had been playing since they were children. Coleman began when he was five, and has participated in numerous chess competitions since, including the U.S. Open.

“I’ve been doing this all my life,” said Coleman, who is also a Crimson arts writer.

Coleman’s comments were echoed by his Chinese counterparts.

“I began playing at the age of five and won the international chess master title when I was 13,” Wang Shuai, a player from the University of Beijing, said in Chinese.

Despite the competitive spirit of the contest, the members of the two teams said they have become friends.

When the University of Beijing team arrived at Harvard this past Friday, Harvard Chess Team President Sebastian I. Predescu ’10 welcomed them by giving them a thorough tour of the campus.

Tian Ye, the leader of the Chinese team, said that after viewing the crisp glass boxes and the curiously bulky structure of the Science Center, he was dazzled by the enormity and modernity of the University.

On Monday, the students, most of who had never been across the Pacific before, will continue their American adventure by sitting in on a statistics and an economics course, and then visiting the Prudential Center and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Predescu added that they will also receive a special Harvard treat.

“They will be allowed to visit the author of their economics textbook, Professor Mankiw, during his office hours,” Predescu said. “They’re very excited.”

The students will leave Cambridge next Tuesday, and the members of the Harvard Chess Team will head to Beijing in March for a rematch.

CORRECTION

The Oct. 5 story, "Harvard Chess Club Ties Beijing Team," misstated the name of a chess maneuver. It is "Poison Pawn" not "Poison Pond."