Fairhope High Chess Team asking to discontinue iconic cannon firing during matches.

 

A petition to stop the famous Fairhope school cannon from firing during chess matches has been circulating through the FHS chess team this week as some of the players find the firing distracting and terrifying. Like in football games, the cannon is set to fire with each score, and in the chess matches the cannon fires with each capture of an opponents piece. In a typical team tournament, the cannon often fires hundreds of times each hour, making the environment sound more like the Battle of Gettysburg than a usual chess match. Chess pieces can be seen flying through the air as each burst rattles the game boards off tables, and sends some of the lighter students out of their seats. 

The school chess team exploded in size this year with the sudden popularity brought on by the Netflix series The Queen's Gambit, with most new players saddened to find Anya Taylor-Joy was not on the school team.