Get to know McMinnville Chess Club and our regulars with our Community Spotlight series. In this spotlight focus, we’re joined by one of the club’s founding members and organizers, Mike Terrill.

What brought you to chess?

My dad taught me how to play when I around 6 years old.

What keeps you going?

The game fits with my personality, so it’s hard to stay away from it!

What kinds of chess do you either play or enjoy the most, and why?

Now I mostly play over-the-board, though I have played a lot of online chess over the years. I prefer playing actual humans instead of bots.

What’s your favorite chess opening at the moment?

Scotch Gambit. There are a lot of different move orders to get it after 1.e4 e5. There are also a lot of traps and tactical ideas in the opening.

If you could give your younger self one piece of chess wisdom and advice, what would it be?

I would tell my twenty-year old self to avoid extremes in my play and not to let my emotions get the best of me.

Has chess made you into a better person?

That is a tough question to answer, since it’s been a part of me for the vast majority of my life.

Anything else you’d like our readers to know? Do you have any projects outside of chess that you’re working on?

I was a scholastic chess coach in the Portland Metro area for twelve and a half years before moving to McMinnville in 2020. Along with being one of the founding members of the McMinnville Chess Club, I’m also a member of McMinnville Community Media‘s Saturday Film Club and am planning a series of shows about chess to be filmed at MCM.