Former heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes has a message for teens — chess is a cool game.
Jersey City chess teacher uses boxing legend Larry Holmes and McNuggets to interest kids in learning ‘game of life’
Published: Thursday, March 08, 2012, 3:03 AM
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal
A Jersey City chess teacher has enlisted the help of former heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes and a McDonald’s franchise owner to drive home the message that chess is a “cool” game for urban teenagers.
Three months ago, chess instructor Bobby Stewart started the weekly McDonald’s Chess Cafe at the 390 Martin Luther King Drive in partnership with the McDonald’s franchise owner, the Quintana Organization.
Stewart provides free chess instruction to local children, teenagers and adults every Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., and the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Kids get to eat for free.
Looking for innovative ways to introduce chess to children and teenagers, Stewart invited Holmes to speak to the kids at the McDonald’s on Feb. 25.
Kids packed the restaurant for a chance to meet the legendary boxing champ and win prizes that included McDonald gift certificates and a pair of signed boxing gloves from Holmes, Stewart said.
“Chess is looked upon as a geeky and nerdy type of game, and we want to change that,” Stewart told The Jersey Journal.
“Chess is a game of life. There are so many academic benefits . . . and it is a great way to socialize,” added Stewart, who organizes the free events through Kings Knight Chess Club Inc., the nonprofit he founded in 2002.
Jessica Quintana, who owns the franchise with her mother Celest Quintana, said chess teaches kids “to think before they move.”
“It is something that kids need to learn,” she said.”
”For more information, visit kingsknightchessclub.tripod.com or call Bobby Stewart at (201) 936-9997.
Source: http://www.nj.com
Is he better at chess than Lennox Lewis?