Still have mass appeal

In pop culture age, chess still has appeal
Colts Neck News Transcript – Colts Neck, NJ, USA

Chess school offers instruction, tournaments

Playing video games and Wii are the current recreational rages, but the centuries-old game of chess still has appeal due to one important advantage.

“Whether you are playing face-to-face against another person or are playing someone on the Internet, the opponent in chess is usually human,” observed Michael Koblentz, of Colts Neck, the director of the Monmouth Chess School and Club.

Koblentz added, “There is a social structure built up around chess based on a long history of passing the game’s knowledge both from one generation to the next and from one culture to the next. There is a widely publicized system of rankings to measure and recognize performance, thereby providing positive reinforcement to improving players.”

Koblentz, a U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) tournament director, founded the Monmouth Chess School and Club in April 2008 at the Little Silver Library, where meetings were held until the club’s recent move to the YMCA’s Children’s Cultural Center at 51 Monmouth St., Red Bank.

The club opened in Red Bank in February and meets every Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

In addition to providing instruction, the club holds tournaments, with plans to promote larger chess events that benefit the Community YMCA’s Strong Kids Program as the club grows, Koblentz said.

Early March Quads were held March 1 and the 2009 New Jersey Shore League Championships were held at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown on Feb. 25.

According to the Internet website www.monmouthchess.com, the club’s mission statement is, “The Monmouth Chess School and Club is dedicated to promoting the benefits of chess through a balance of instruction, study and play.”

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