Posted on Sat, Apr. 17, 2010
Chess players hunker down for all-nighter
The Checkmate Violence marathon offers youths an alternative that’s a lot like life itself.
By Robert Moran
Inquirer Staff Writer
Mayor Nutter was scheduled Friday night to make the “first ceremonial” move in the opening match of the Checkmate Violence 24-Hour Chess Marathon at Temple University.
Nutter decided to play the entire game.
His opponent: 9-year-old Janiya Ashlock.
When it was over, Ashlock, a fourth grader at Bache-Martin Elementary School, had used a queen and bishop to pin Nutter’s king – the only piece he had left.
How long did it last? “Four and a half hours,” a Nutter aide said, half-joking.
It actually ran about 45 minutes.
Nutter told the assembled children and their parents and coaches that chess teaches “concentration and paying attention to what’s going on, anticipating moves many steps ahead. It’s a lot like life.”
It was the start of the third year of the chess marathon, brainchild of Gil F. Motley, a chess coach at six city schools.
“I figure if they have dance marathons, why not chess marathons?” Motley said.
The first year drew about 250 children, he said. Last year, about 300 participated, and he was hoping for the same or more this time around. The last two years, about 60 children each time stayed up the entire 24 hours, he said.
“I’ll be thinking about all of you at about 2 or 3 o’clock this morning,” Nutter said in his opening remarks. “But I’ll be asleep.”
Here is the full article.
They must be tired.