Chess in Brownsville

Checkmate
Student-teachers schooled in chess
By VICTORIA MANNING, THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
August 22, 2007 – 11:36PM

It only took one hour for Lucia Suarez to decide she wanted to learn chess.

Suarez, along with other student-teachers preparing for a career in education, sat in on the first ever student-teacher chess train-ing at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.

Jerry Nash, scholastic director of the U.S. Chess Federation, and Rusty Harwood, UTB-TSC chess program director, led a three-day program instructing student-teachers the fundamentals of chess.

“They can use chess training in their curriculum,” Nash said.

He explained that the skills learned in chess could assist students in other areas of learning.

“It impacts their math, critical-thinking skills and character development,” he said.

Suarez said she plans to use it in her curriculum.

“I thought it was really interesting,” she said.

“My boyfriend knows how to play chess. I want to learn.”

Nash brought the idea to Brownsville because of the nationally- recognized chess program here.

“People are excited about what is going on here,” he said.

Nash hopes the three-day program will remove the intimidation some people may feel about chess.

“Most have never played chess, and we want them to know that you don’t have to be a grandmaster to teach it,” Nash said.

Source: Brownsville Herald