Published: April 16, 2008 03:12 pm         

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Don't confuse chess players with couch potatoes

Long before there was television, video games, iPods or computers there was chess. For centuries it was known as “the game of Kings” but its appeal was just as great to the masses. Last month the state of Idaho agreed that was true. They announced that a pilot program of teaching chess in more than 100 second- and third-grade classrooms was so successful it will be extended this fall to all second- and third-grade youngsters. Idaho is the first state to include chess in the curriculum statewide.

My reaction was “Shucks!” I was happy for the Idaho youngsters but I was sad that Tennessee had not been the first state to recognize the academic benefits of chess. The teachers in Idaho were convinced and one said, “The thing I like about this program is that the kids are thinking ahead.” Another compared youngsters involved in video games, iPods or TV as more isolated, but she said, “They learn give and take in chess. There are courtesies they follow.”

In July 2003, it was announced that the U.S. Chess Federation was moving its headquarters to Crossville. The USCF is the governing body for chess in the United States and the president said, “For years Crossville has been the center of scholastic chess competition much as Tennessee has been the center for chess nationally.”

Recently an Associated Press article quoted Alan Kantor, who organizes youth events and membership for USCF. He said the organization has seen its 14-and-under membership rise from about 15,000 in 2000 to more than 36,000 today.

Although chess has not become part of the curriculum as in Idaho, the AP article said it is an educational tool in many public schools and private programs across the country. It is used to teach critical thinking and strategy, math, history and even English skills by having the students write out their moves.

In 2005 Chicago magazine profiled a man who quit his life as a trading-firm owner for 24 years to teach after-school chess programs. He sold his business and with a professional chess teacher/player founded Chess Education Partners in 2002. By 2005 they had taught more than 1,000 classes for schools and community youth groups around Chicago. His goal is to have 30 full-time teachers of chess in every American city, teaching a million kids at a time.

USA Today devoted a full page in June 2004 on chess programs specifically aimed at troubled black youth. One black man has taught chess for many years because he recognized what a difference it made in his life after he learned the game in his early teens. He learned to scrutinize every option, to plan ahead and to recognize patterns. Those skills helped him to move out of a public housing project and become a state trooper. The game taught him discipline and though he was the lowest-ranked player when he entered the Birmingham City Chess Championship he defeated the highest-ranked and became the first African-American city champion. He and many other black chess players are teaching the game with a goal of making a positive change in the lives they touch.

It is not surprising that this board game which dates back to the 8th century is still with us. In an early remembrance of Grassy Cove I read of an outstanding chess player. The Wiley Ault family migrated here after the Civil War and Ault established the second grocery store in the cove. His invalid son, Alvin, was a great chess player and beating him was considered a real feat.

Even though players sit while playing the game they don’t become couch potatoes. The games demand attention and once the play ends a good walk in the fresh air clears the mind for the next match. Parents would be wise to spend money for a chess set rather than an electronic gadget.

Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday. She may be reached at dcb1@frontiernet.net.