Wednesday, October 31, 2001
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Game of kings? It's elementary

Chess is grabbing the imaginations of young children, even first graders. They think it's fun; educators say the game is good training for their minds.

"It’s cool … to challenge others," says John Moore (left). He and Devon Hatch were playing at Shaw Middle School. They play in a program sponsored by African American Brotherhood of Southwest Philadelphia. (JOHN COSTELLO / Inquirer)

By Lini S. Kadaba
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Ian Udvarhelyi and Austin Feinstein could have colored. Or played Candy Land. Or built a block tower.

Or even eaten some more snacks.

But the first graders decide to spend indoor recess playing chess.

Before long, almost the entire class of 6- and 7-year-olds, boys and girls, at the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr pairs off, hunching over chess boards that cover the classroom floor like a patchwork quilt.

"It rules our world," says Ian, 6, advancing his bishop to block an attack.

Among kids, chess is hip. Nowhere is that more evident than at elementary schools, where the ancient game of strategy is conquering the playground set.

"It's like a prairie fire," Tim Redman, a past president of the New York-based U.S. Chess Federation, says of the game's rapid spread.

The federation has seen its under-14 membership skyrocket tenfold since 1990, from 3,300 children to just over 34,000 this year. (Members pay $13 a year to belong.) Participation in the group's national chess tournaments - starting with kindergarten matchups - also is rising, with elementary-school competitors outnumbering high schoolers.

What's the appeal? "It's not luck, it's not 'My teammate didn't pass the ball' or 'The sun was in my eyes,' " says Stephen Shutt, who heads the Chess-in-the-Schools Program for Philadelphia and teaches mentally gifted students at Masterman School. "Your efforts determine success or failure - not whether someone likes you."

Families are adding chess lessons to the lineup of piano, karate and other must-have classes - leading some to quip that the "chess mom" might be the latest incarnation of the soccer mom.

Chess camps, too, have multiplied across the country, from just one (the Castle Chess Camp in Bradford, Pa.) to more than two dozen. And after-school chess clubs are brimming with members.

"I like chess because it makes you think, and I like thinking," says an earnest Adin Borden, 6, a first grader at Haviland Avenue Elementary School in Audubon, Camden County, where 55 of the 320 students - nearly 20 percent - play after-school chess.

In Southwest Philadelphia, 7- to 13-year-olds are spending evenings checkmating opponents. At Pickering Valley Elementary School in Chester Springs, chess is so popular that a second after-school club is under discussion. In one Rochester, N.Y., school, overwhelmed chess advisers are turning away students.

"The kids think it's a treat - 'Oh, we don't have to do math today. We get to play a game,' " says Marley Kaplan, executive director of Chess-in-the-Schools, a model program that brings chess to 36,000 children in New York City. Its filled-to-capacity tournaments most weekends draw youngsters from the region, including Philadelphia, Kaplan says.

The game of kings owes its improved image in part to movies such as 1993's Searching for Bobby Fischer and to chess-loving celebs, such as rock star Sting, basketball star Larry Johnson, and actor Will Smith.

"It's not a geeky game," says Jude Busarello, 11, a high-ranked Haviland player who also enjoys soccer. "It's like a war game. You get to defeat your opponent."

Andrew Rippel, 10, a Shipley fourth grader, plays chess and soccer. "I think I like chess a little more because you don't have to put on gross, sweaty shin guards."

"It's the best game in the world," says Hannah Drayton, 6, a Shipley first grader.

Educators, too, think the game has all the right moves for growing brains. New Jersey encourages formal chess instruction for second graders. At nine Philadelphia public schools, chess instructors regularly visit classrooms.

Researchers have found that children who play chess - even at a mediocre level - score higher on standardized reading and math tests. In a 1996 study, third and fourth graders in Los Angeles and New York City who played chess scored about 10 percentage points higher on reading tests than a control group of peers who did not play chess.

Other studies done in the 1990s show that young chess players build analytical skills and self-esteem.

"No one ever talks about Monopoly improving reading," says Redman, who also heads the Chess Program at the University of Texas at Dallas. "Chess works. We're not entirely sure why."

One guess: Cognitive processes used in chess and in reading are very similar, says Redman, who has looked at the research.

"First you learn the board, then you learn each piece, then you put the pieces together," Kaplan says. "It organizes your mind. It causes you to stop and assess what's going on. It causes you to think ahead."

Redman expects chess to continue its advance on elementary schools: "It's a gymnasium for the mind." This year, the university began offering "Chess in the Classroom" courses aimed at teachers. In December, the university will host an international conference, "Chess in Education."

On a recent Wednesday, a dozen boys met at Shaw Middle School at 6 p.m. for Chess Masters, a program of the African American Brotherhood of Southwest Philadelphia.

"It's cool . . . to challenge others," says newcomer John Moore, 10, after capturing his opponent's knight.

Coordinator Penni Roberts says many of the boys come not only to play chess, but to talk to the instructors, who serve as mentors.

Darron Shanks, 12, has played chess with the group for two years. "It helps you to think before you act," he says. "Instead of fighting in the street, we can fake fight here, on the chess board, and take each other's pieces."

Jose Devore, 13, says he enjoys the strategy chess involves. "It's a mind game," he says.

Across town in Queen Village, Sasha Mitts, 8, and his sister, Tatiana, 6, each take half-hour lessons with chess master Boris Baczynskyj, who has about 35 students and charges $40 to $50 an hour.

On this night, Sasha's challenge is to figure out which one move will result in checkmate. His sister will learn the power of a new piece, the queen.

Leslie Mitts, 38, who signed her children up for chess, says Tatiana, the athlete in the family, initially balked at lessons. "I said, 'Try it three times and let me know.' "

After one lesson, Mitts says her daughter had made up her mind: "She loves it."