If you’re looking for a new area to explore, want an alternative to the Loop, or feel like breaking out of the “WashU bubble,” the Central West End could be your best next stop. The district boasts a variety of dining options, landmarks, research opportunities, and housing — even if you’re already familiar with the area, there might be something new to see.

Two freshmen currently hold elite rankings in chess: FIDE Master and National Master Vincent Tsay and Candidate Master Alec Beck. Having grown up around chess, they both had their share of structured training and tournament-hopping and have found meaning in the classic, universally loved strategy game. Their newest plan of action: adjusting to college life at Washington University.

“WashU really outperformed expectations,” Andrew Shiman, club president and B-Team first board, said. “A-Team was 16th, and the field had a lot of Grandmasters and International Masters, so we did a lot better than our rating suggested.”

These aren’t the landmarks that put the city on the map, but they are no less significant in defining the city’s quirky character. From giant gas station signs to record-breaking chess pieces, here are some of Scene’s favorite lesser-known St. Louis monuments.

He takes versatility to a whole new level, trumping the notion that passion can only be applied to one field. At a school with thousands of well-rounded individuals, he represents just how unbounded interests can be. From chess champion to instrument intellectual and beyond, there’s no one label you can place on Washington University junior Mark Heimann. “At Wash.

Harvard? Cornell? Neither Ivy League institution put up much of a fight against the Washington University Chess Club in its most recent major tournament.

Student Union Treasury voted in favor of funding a printed version of an online campus fashion magazine, a social justice awareness event and a trip to a national chess championship. The group voted at its weekly meeting Tuesday to grant Armour Magazine $4000, which will enable it to print its student-based fashion magazine that was once available only online.

Chess may be a serious, cranial game, but a former World Champion had no problem cracking jokes. “I was born in the Deep South of the Soviet Union, near Georgia,” Garry Kasparov said about his birth in the Caucasus.

Chess legend Garry Kasparov delivered a lecture Monday afternoon in Graham Chapel on global economics and politics, discussing the overarching issues the world is currently facing and offering ideas on how society can move forward.

Hikaru Nakamura, the No. 1 chess player in the U.S. and No. 10 player in the world according to the World Chess Federation rankings, came to College Hall on Saturday to share his love of chess with the Washington University community and take on 42 players concurrently under a simul format. He won all 42 games with ease.