Red spheres were flying between Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU)’s chess club and SMSU’s men’s rugby team on April 1.

“Out of all the clubs to go at each other, I never expected it to be the rugby guys and the chess guys,” said history major Megan Lipetzky.

After several members of rugby team allegedly insulted five members of the chess club, the chess club challenged members of the sports team to a 5-on-5 match of any game or sport to be picked at random.

Words such as “football”, “Magic: The Gathering”, “Basketball” and “League of Legends” were written on slips of paper and thrown into a fedora. After winning the coin toss of who gets to pick, the captain of the rugby team drew “Dodge ball.”

“It was intense,” recalled Aquarius RA Jessica Linder. Linder was sitting in the gym watching the match. “Everyone thought the rugby guys had the game won before the match even started. But those guys from chess club can catch.”

Chess club took the win by catching every ball thrown at them, showing that the best offense is a strong defense.