Arts^Entertainment
Nebraskan
Wednesday, January 26,1994
Students capture opportunities to play chess
By Gary Gregg
Staff Reporter
Kings, Queens and Knights took
over the Nebraska Union last week
end.
But the only battle took place on
the chessboard.
The Nebraska Mathematics and
Science Coalition, along with the
Sheridan Chess Club of the Lincoln
Public Schools, held a two-day chess
camp for elementary students Friday
and Saturday at the Nebraska Union.
Chess author and teacher Robert
Snyder of California was in town to
teach the youngsters the finer points
of the game. But young kids were not
the only chess enthusiasts brushing up
on their skills.
Gary Coulter, a junior electrical
engineering major,participated in the
Ice Castle Chess Tournament Sun
day.
Coulter has been interested in chess
since childhood.
“My dad taught me how to play
when I was 10 years old, and I played
in my first tournament when I was
14,” Coulter said.
Coulter said he was busy this se
mester, not only playing chess but
also organizing the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln Chess Club.
The chess club started this week
and will provide an opportunity for
students to play and learn about chess
as well as “have a lot of fun,” Coulter
said.
Coulter said he had been a member
of the Lincoln Chess Club for four
years. Few LCC members are stu
dents, he said.
“I felt a chess club was something
the university was lacking when 1 first
came here,” Coulter said.
This is not the first time a chess
club has been available to students.
Coulter said a student chess organiza
tion disbanded a few years ago.
“I have to start a new club from
"““““ Travis Heying/DN
Gary Coulter, president of the newly formed University of Nebraska-LIncoln chess club, thinks there needs to be an outlet on
campus for chess lovers. “Chess isn’t just for intellectuals,” Coulter says.
scratch,” he said.
Coulter said he wanted the UNL
Chess Club to meet weekly to prac
tice. Hosting student tournaments
starting later in the semester is also a
possibility, he said.
“Tournaments make chess more
fun when you are actually competing
for money or prizes,” Coulter said.
Coulter said there were only five
annual tournaments in the Lincoln
area, and he thought there should be
more.
Coulter said he expected a high
degree of involvement in the club
because of the level of interest in
chess he had seen on campus.
The recent UNL intramural chess
tournament had more than 80 partic
ipants, he said. The Office for Student
Involvement has been receiving calls
from students interested in a chess
club.
Coulter said the chess club would
be open to all students, regardless of
their skill level or experience.
“Chess is not just for intellectuals.
It is a game for everyone. You don’t
have to be super smart to come and
play,” he said.
The UNL Chess Club meets every
Tuesday and interested students are
welcome.
Spielberg scores another hit
in his portrayal of Holocaust
“Schindler’s List”
iriciriri
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
“Schindler’s List” joins the list of
classics directed and produced by
Steven Spielberg.
This film is a powerful story about
the Holocaust and one man who was
able to bring light and hope to a
people who knew only suffering and
death.
Oskar Schindler (Liam Nccson), a
German businessman, uses the rise of
Nazi power for his own personal gain.
Exploiting Jewish workers, bribing
SS officials and dealing on the black
market allow Schindler to amass a
huge fortune early in the war.
While dealing with the Nazis,
Schindler forms relations with the
, commandant of Plaszow concentra
tion camp, Amon Goeth (Ralph
Fiennes). Goeth’s sadistic cruelty to
his Jewish slave labor bothers
Schindler, who begins to see what the
Nazis have planned for the Jews.
Schindler gradually becomes clos
er to his Jewish workers, especially
his accountant Itzhak Stern (Ben
Kingsley). When the war moves to
warda close, and millions of Jews are
shipped to Auschwitz and other exter
mination camps, Schindler decides to
act. He pays Goeth for the rights to
take his workers to an arms factory he
is constructing in his Czechoslovaki
an homeland.
He uses the rest of his fortune to
ensure that the Nazis use none of the
munitions produced by his factory.
Schindler saves the lives of more
than 1,100 Jews by bringing them to
his factory. They present him with a
gold ring bearing the inscription
“Whoever Saves One Life, Saves the
World Entire.’’
A unique feature of this show is its
black-and-white filming. Spielberg
uses 1930s cinematography tech
niques, such as eliminating colors like
green that have a bad tint on black
and-white film.
The film has a very realistic feel. It
is filmed entirely on location in
Krakow, Poland, one of the few Euro
pean cities not devastated by World
War II. Spielberg even uses
Schindler’s original factory and apart
ment.
The acting is also exceptional.
Neeson’s portrayal of Schindler is
only slightly less moving than
Kingsley’s astounding performance
as Itzhak Stern.
Spielberg does an excellent job of
directing a difficult film that he could
have easily sensationalized or under
played. He brings the reality of the
Holocaust to a generation who sees it
as history and not a part of people’s
lives.
An original score by John Will
iams is the icing on this near perfect
cake of“Schindler’s List.”
Courtly of Universal Pictures
Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler (left) and Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stem star in "Schindler’s
List.”
