Philanthropist Jeanne Sinquefield posed a question to a group of Scouts camping on her property in Folk: Would any of them be interested in creating an oversized chess set to be used by the public?
Andrew Dowden raised his hand. The Helias Catholic High School junior and a Life Scout at Immaculate Conception School’s Troop 6, had been working for years toward becoming an Eagle, the highest rank in Scouting.
“I didn’t really have an (Eagle) project at the time,” he said. “I was kind of looking to find one. She was explaining why it would be good, and I thought it would turn out really well.”
After more than a year of work, including COVID-related problems and delays, the project is finally coming to fruition.
Dowden has installed a granite chessboard on Adrian’s Island. The oversized plastic chess pieces will be stored in a nearby shed he is working to install. After that, he will submit paperwork on his project and hopefully attain the rank of Eagle.
“It feels this good,” Dowden said. “I’m ready to finally get it done and present my project.”
Completing the project took a good amount of discussion and logistics. The St. Louis Chess Club helped fund the project, but getting the granite for the project during the pandemic was challenging.
Dowden worked with the city’s parks department and its contractor for the Bicentennial Bridge project, which also supplied the concrete for his project. He also enlisted the help of an engineer — the father of a fellow Scout — to help him with the 18-inch-thick concrete foundation, which included cylinder-shaped pillars on the edges and middle.
Lake of the Ozarks Scout Reservation, a Scouting camp, let Dowden use its laser engraver to engrave 37 of the squares on the outer edges of the chessboard with Missouri history scenes/information — the St. Louis Arch, Dred Scott, George Washington Carver and the women’s suffrage movement to name a few.
Dowden is soft-spoken and isn’t eager to tout his accomplishments. But his mom is.
“I’m very proud because he’s a very humble kid who doesn’t say a whole lot,” Carla Dowden said. “He put a lot of time into it. He doesn’t like to be in front of the camera or in the limelight. He just likes to be behind the scenes working.”
Dowden is, however, looking forward to playing chess on Adrian’s Island with the governor and first lady, who hopes to make it to the yet-to-be- determined opening ceremony.
Until he started the project, Dowden didn’t know how to play chess. But he’s learning with the help of an app.
Ultimately, that’s the goal of Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield — for people to learn the game. The two were inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2020. In 2008, the couple founded the Saint Louis Chess Club and later provided the funding to move the World Chess Hall of Fame to Saint Louis, according to the World Chess Hall of Fame. Jeanne, a supporter of Scouting, also worked to create a chess merit badge in Scouting.
“I hope people go over there and play chess,” Dowden said. “If they don’t know how to play chess, hopefully they’ll learn how to play.”