Creativity in Various Forms

On campus today three groups continued to meet, learn and use their creative minds.

Beyond Monopoly has split into two groups and is using creativity to design and build an original strategy game.  Each has come up with some basic concept of a game and they are working to create the game board/pieces and flush out the details of how to play (and win) the game.  Neither group has a name for their game yet, but one group has a clear "one-liner" to explain what it will be:  A futuristic territorial acquisition game played on a modular board where players need to explore unknown planets and establish a new civilization on one of them.

The Chess group is also involved with strategy gaming but of another sort, which also requires creative thinking.  There is a game board and pieces and the game requires you to "think ahead" and plan for various moves your opponent might make.  At first chess may not appear to be "creative" thinking  but since a person needs to recognize several alternatives or possibilities at one time, it is in fact a highly "creative" game.  Actually, playing chess will help you to develop this type of flexible thinking. (Today, Tuesday, the group is having a tournament.)

Just down the hall from Chess is the Watermedia Painting group.  They went off campus this afternoon to visit Sharon Wooding's studio and an art gallery.  It was a perfect time to capture some finish products and those in process on camera.  Here we see creativity in a specific art form.

 

Strategy Stress

A Grandmaster Chess Champion, has been sharing techniques and his own "secret" moves to win the game of chess.  Just spending a few minutes in the room, is mind boggling!  As he takes the group through a possible game scenario, he rattles off the "obvious" moves one would make to get them to the point where he makes the game-changing moves.






On Wednesday he challenged each student to a game of chess. All the students lost, however Matt Rose did last the longest in his game - about 40 moves.  As professional chess player, the longest game in his career was 9 hours, where he eventually lost the game after about 114 moves.  His shortest game was about 10 minutes and he won the game in 6 moves.  (Watch video of him explaining that particular game.)






During break times, one might find various structures of chess art on the boards.