Learning, one move at a time

Learning more, one move at a time
BY Smriti Sinha

More than 600 chess enthusiasts gathered at Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain in late September and took their places at long communal tables covered with hundreds of shiny plastic chess boards and manual stop watches. Chess-in-the-Schools, a non-profit organization that has run chess programs in New York City public schools for the past 27 years, had organized the 13th Annual Rapid Open Chess Tournament as a kick-off for the school year.

The organization was established in 1986 to improve after-school options for at-risk elementary school students. What began as an eight-week program where a chess player went to different schools to familiarize kids with how the pieces move, has grown to a 32-week program that pays more than 30 instructors and has produced prodigies such as Justus Williams, who at 12 had become the youngest African-American National Master. Williams, now 14, also won all the six rounds at Central Park and won the trophy in the Championship section. Five out of nine other student winners were Chess-in-the-Schools trainees.

The foundation raises about $2.1 million every year, and the program is available in 51 schools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, with another 50 are on the waiting list. Each site costs the foundation $25,000.

“Move after move in chess, kids learn not to rush before making a judgment,” said Susan Polgar, who was the first woman Grandmaster, the highest title in the sport, and has been coaching for the past 17 years. “That’s a life skill that we all need.”

Chess-in-the-Schools says that the game connects to improved school performance. “Our high school students have a zero percent dropout rate,” said Sarah Pitari, Vice President of Programs, who has been with the organization for a decade. The foundation expanded into a College Bound program 12 years ago which helps 140 high school students every year with SAT preparation, internships, and community service weekends from New York City to South Dakota. Travel abroad trips are also part of this program.

Full article here.