Malik Bahloul is currently in his first year of the Arts et Métiers Grande École Program at the Cluny Campus. He has been selected to represent Arts et Métiers French Chess Championship for Grandes Écolesin the summer of 2020. He was ranked among the top 31 individual players in the selection tournaments. We look back on his selection with Malik, president of the student association at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Cluny next year.
Living your passion...
"When I was six years old, my father enrolled me in a chess club."Malik quickly became hooked, and once he started competing, the game became a real passion."I had the opportunity to participate in two international tournaments, organized in the town of Saint-Lô in Normandy."
So Malik took up the challenge and signed up for the French Chess Championship for Grandes Écoles via a Facebook post."I suggested to Arnaud Ringot, a third-year student, that we do it together. There were two online tournaments, the first in December 2019 and the second on March 24, 2020, right in the middle of lockdown. Fortunately, this second tournament took place remotely via digital platforms. At the end of these tournaments, I was selected among the top 31 players." The next stage is a face-to-face tournament, initially planned to take place at the Château d'Asnières, but the date of the French championship has been postponed due to the health crisis.
Chess teaches concentration, discipline, creativity, and memory—all qualities that I find in my training at Arts et Métiers.
...and study at Arts et Métiers
Malik is taking advantage of this period of lockdown to fine-tune his preparation. Specifically, he analyzes chess games to study strategic patterns and tactics. He plays quite a few games, "while continuing to follow my classes via educational platforms offered by Arts et Métiers," Malik points out.
When asked what he believes are the similarities between his passion for chess and his training at Arts et Métiers, Malik replies that chess requires concentration, rigor, creativity, and memory—all qualities he finds in the training of an Arts et Métiers engineer. These are qualities he also intends to put to good use in his future role as President of the Arts et Métiers Campus Student Association Arts et Métiers Cluny.
Who is Malik Bahloul?
Once he has obtained his degree, he would like to work in aeronautics, but he is open to other fields. He had the opportunity to discover and appreciate the naval field during an internship. He will therefore explore new fields in order to have a wider range of choices when he completes his training.
